Also known as En no Ozunu 役小角 (also read En no Shōkaku) and En no Ubasoku 役優婆塞.
A semi-legendary holy man noted for his practice of mountain asceticism during the second half of the 7th century. Typically he is represented wearing a white hooded robe and a pair of clogs, which have one support instead of the usual two. He holds a staff and Buddhist prayer beads in his hands and is usually seated on a rock base accompanied by two demons oni 鬼.
En no Gyōja was known as a diviner at Mt. Katsuragi 葛城 on the border of Nara and Osaka. Mentioned in early Japanese texts, the Nihon ryōiki 日本霊異記, and the Shokunihongi 続日本紀 as having magical powers that enable him to cast spells, he is also said to have had two demon attendants who gathered water and firewood for him. In 699 he was accused of misleading the people and expelled to Izu 伊豆.
Though his life story is riddled with folklore, he is idealized as the founder of shugendō 修験道, a syncretic religious order which combined elements of ancient pre-Buddhist worship of mountains sangaku shinkō 山岳信仰 with the doctrine and ritual of Esoteric Buddhism mikkyō 密教. It is believed that he climbed and consecrated many mountains, making sanctuaries in such places as Kinbusen 金峯山 and Ōmine 大峰 in Nara. He was given the posthumous name of Shinben Daibosatu 神変大菩薩 (Miraculous Great Bodhisattva).
Artwork depicting En no Gyōja dates from the Kamakura period or later and is often found in temples of the Shingon 真言 sect, strongly influenced by Ōmine mountain asceticism.