Its temple legend says it is Nyoirin Kannon (the Bodhisattva of Compassion), but it has been named so after the Heian Period and considered to have originally been built as Maitreya Bodhisattva in manas in a semi-lotus position.
寺伝では如意輪観音だが、これは平安時代以降の名称で、当初は弥勒菩薩半跏思惟像として造立されたものと思われる。