Shuni-e

The Shuni-e (修二会^?, literally "Second-Month Service") is a ceremony held each year at certain Buddhist temples in Japan. The name comes from its observance in the second month of the lunisolar calendar. Today, the service is usually held in either February or March, depending on temples.

One of the popularly known Shuni-e is the one at Tōdai-ji in Nara, held between March 1 and the morning of March 15. This article describes below the details of the Shuni-e held at Tōdai-ji.

The Tōdai-ji Shuni-e ceremony was originally started by Jitchū, a monk of the Kegon school, as a devotion and confession to the Bodhisattva Kannon(Skt: Avalokiteśvara). It has continued every year since 752, though it was held at a different site until the Nigatsu-dō was completed in 772. The ceremony is also known as Omizutori (お水取り), the name of its climactic ritual.

The ceremony actually comprises an array of ceremonies centered on repentance to the Bodhisattva Kannon and prayers for the welfare of society. Two of the best known ceremonies of the Shuni-e are the Fire Ceremony (otaimatsu in Japanese) and the Omizutori, or "Water Ceremony".

The origins of the Tōdai-ji Shuni-e ceremony are unclear, but an illustrated text in 1586 cites a legend surrounding the monk Jitchū. According to the story, Jitchū wandered into a cave in the year 751, and the cave led him to the Buddhist heaven realm of Tushita (Tosotsuten in Japanese). There, in the cave, he observed 49 shrines of devotion to various Buddhist figures, and heavenly beings (see deva) frantically running between shrines over and over to pay obeisances and offerings. One particularly grand shrine was devoted to the Bodhisattva Kannon, in his eleven-faced form, crowded with beings taking part in a grand repentance ritual.

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Wikipedia