Zentsuji Temple: Sunafumi Dojo

The Shikoku Pilgrimage covers 1,200 kilometers and 88 temples across four prefectures. For those who cannot make the journey on foot, Sunafumi Dojo at Zentsuji offers a way to receive the same blessings in a single room. Opened in 2006 for the 1,200th anniversary of Zentsuji's founding, the low-lit hall holds 88 wooden statues representing each temple's deity, all carved by Kyoto sculptor Matsumoto Myokei with slight individual differences in posture and expression. Beneath the red carpet in front of each statue is sand from its corresponding temple. Stepping on it is considered equivalent to standing on the sacred ground itself.