Iyadani-ji is Temple 71 on the Shikoku Pilgrimage or Henro. This is a very large temple complex spread over a geologically interesting area with much to see. There are more than 1,500 carvings of Amida Buddha and his attendants in the rock walls, and the words Namu Amida Butsu, said to be carved by Ippen Shōnin in the 13th century.

What to see
From the car park, numerous steps lead up through woodland to the Niō Gate. Everywhere there are large and small statues of indeterminate age. Beyond the gate, a long flight of steps leads up the mountain, passing massive boulders.

A little bridge crosses a creek and in front of you stands a six-metre statue of Kongōken Bosatsu cast in the late 1600s.

Another long flight of steps with red railings leads to a flat area. The Daishi Hall, temple office, and Goma Hall are straight ahead, up a few steps. The Goma Hall is a continuation of the Daishi Hall housing statues of various divinities. Behind the Daishi Hall is Jizō in a cave about ten metres up the slope. To the right of the Daishi Hall is a building called the Shishi no Iwaya with a statue of Kūkai.

Heading to the right, there’s a two-story pagoda on a ledge to the upper left. The interior is decorated with pictures of celestial maidens and ceiling paintings.  There’s an Inari shrine up the path behind the pagoda. Carrying on towards the right, there’s a statue of Kūkai on the pilgrimage, and a belfry.

Stone steps lead up from the belfry to the Kannon Hall on the right and the Hall of the Ten Kings on the left. At the top is another Goma Hall in a rock cave. On the right side of the Goma Hall, the Gongen Hall can be seen on a steep, rough, and extremely steep footpath.

After the Goma Hall the route heads to the left up some steps. On the right is the Cave of the Waterhole. This is the focus of the sacred mountain worship at this temple. The cave is said to be the entrance to Mt. Meru, a towering mountain at the centre of the Buddhist universe.

Further up is the Amida Sanzon Magaibutsu, three images of Buddha carved in relief on a rock face.

At the topmost point of the complex is the main hall, built in 1848. It houses a statue considered by the temple to be Zaō Gongen, the only life-size statue of the deity in Japan made in the Heian period.

History
According to temple legend, Gyōki built the hall at the request of Emperor Shōmu to mourn his wife Empress Kōmyō.

In the Muromachi period (1336-1573), the temple was expanded under the patronage of the Kagawa. In the 1500s, much of it was burnt down during the unification of Shikoku under the Chōsokabe clan.

Legends
There’s a legend that when you leave the temple, you should never look back. If you do, you’ll return with the dead on your back.

Kūkai is said to have studied sutras in the Shishi no Iwaya from age nine to twelve, reading them in the light from the window. The is so named because the rocks look like a lion roaring. Based on the Buddhist belief that “a lion’s roar is the same as Buddha’s preaching,” it’s said that if you pray in front of this rock, the lion will eat up all the bad things that come into your body and protect you. Kūkai is believed to have visited the temple again in 807 after returning from Tang Dynasty China.