A well known story tells that in 1201, at the beginning of the Kamakura period, 29-year-old Mt. Hiei temple priest Shinran descended Mt. Hiei each night to worship in the hexagonal main hall for 100 days when, on dawn of the 95th day, he received in a dream a 4-verse gatha poem by Prince Shotoku and became devoted to the exclusive nenbutsu (senju nenbutsu) teaching of Pure Land Sect founder Honen.
鎌倉時代初期の1201年（建仁元年）、比叡山の堂僧であった29歳の親鸞が、毎夜叡山を下り、この六角堂に百日間参籠し、95日目の暁の夢中に聖徳太子の四句の偈文を得て、浄土宗の祖法然の専修念仏門に帰依した話は有名である。