Although this temple has become a Zen temple (a temple belonging to the Zen sect) of the Soto Sect after the early-modern times, it was originally a branch temple of Todai-ji Temple and deeply associated with Byodoin Temple and the FUJIWARA Sekkan-ke (the families which produced regents), and has a group of Buddhist statues such as the Honzon standing statue of an Eleven-faced Kannon dating back to the Heian period.
近世以降は曹洞宗の禅寺となっているが、元は東大寺の末寺であり、平等院や藤原摂関家ともゆかりの深い寺院で、本尊十一面観音立像をはじめ、平安時代にさかのぼる仏像群を有する。