The Tōdai-ji Shuni-e ceremony was originally started by Jitchū, a monk of the Kegon school, as a devotion and confession to the Bodhisattva Kannon（Skt: Avalokiteśvara).
Jitchū |
It is told that the priest, Jitchu, made a journey deep into the mountains of Kasagi in 751 where he witnessed celestial beings performing a ceremony that was meant to cleanse and ask for repentance.