This statue was once the original Buddhist identity of the Gion-sha Shrine (now Yasaka-jinja Shrine) kami and was housed within the Yakushi-do Hall of Kankei-ji Temple which stood within the grounds of the shrine but was moved to Dairen-ji Temple after Kankei-ji Temple was closed during the anti-Buddhist movement/separation of Buddhism and Shinto that took place during the Meiji period.
この像はかつて祇園社（現・八坂神社）の本地仏であったもので、祇園社と同じ境内にあった観慶寺薬師堂に安置されていたが、明治の廃仏毀釈・神仏分離で観慶寺が廃絶した後、大蓮寺に移された。