Unlike sutras and chants in Sino-Japanese words, the 'goeika,' songs consisting of waka poems to praise Buddha, has been widely adopted among many temples and schools of Buddhism; in fact, the origin of the goeika goes back to the pilgrimage songs sung by pilgrims who set to music the poems Cloistered Emperor Kazan had written at each fudasho temple of the Saigoku Sanjusankasho pilgrimage.
漢語の経典や声明（しょうみょう）と異なり和歌の賛仏歌として「御詠歌」が多くの宗派・寺院で採用されているが、この「御詠歌」の起源は花山法皇が西国三十三箇所の各札所で詠まれた御製の和歌を後世の巡礼者が節をつけて巡礼歌として歌ったものである。