絵馬 Ema

　この絵馬には、達磨の姿が描かれていました。普通は、馬とか干支などが一般的ですが、達磨とは珍しいですね。多分このお寺は、達磨大師と因縁があるのでしょう。

　Daruma's figure was drawn on this Ema. Usually, horses or the Oriental zodiac drawn are common, Dharma is rare. Perhaps this temple has a connection with Bodhidharma.

　Ema is a tablet with a picture of a horse or others on the front and people write their wishes on the back. They buy a blank small board at a shrine or a temple, write their wishes on them, and dedicate it to the shrine or the temple. It used to be customary to dedicate horses to shrines, so horses were commonly pictured on it, but recently many different things have been drawn.

　Bodhidharma was a founder of Zen Buddhism. A Dharma is a papier-mâché doll that resembles Bodhidharma sitting in meditation with no arms and legs, and the bottom is heavy, so even if knocked down, it will be upright immediately.