After following a cedar-lined path and ascending a set of stone steps, you will find yourself before Dainichido Hall.

Enshrined within the hall is Dainichi Nyorai, but this “hibutsu” (hidden Buddha) is concealed from public view.
Legend has it that the pond on the eastern side of the path was formed by water that sprang forth when the famous priest Ennin, who brought the Dainichi Nyorai Buddha to Dainichido Hall, struck the ground with his priest’s staff.

This legend is said to have given rise to the name of the Hirashimizu area as well as the Heisenji Temple.
Enshrined within Heisenji Temple’s Dainichido Hall is a Heian-era statue of Dainichi Nyorai, a hibutsu (“hidden Buddha”) which is normally concealed from public view.

While Okudaira Masaakira, former Lord of Yamagata Castle, died at the youthful age of 28, records indicate that he paid 34 visits to this temple and erected a statue of the Chitoseyama Buddha in Hirashimizu.
The statue was later destroyed in a fire, but the head survived and remains in the keeping of Dainichido Hall.