Needless to say, the legend of Kume-no-sennin (later mentioned) is fiction; although accurate details of the founding are uncertain, the theory that it was built as the uji-dera temple (temple built for praying for one clan's prosperity) for Kumebe, responsible for the military division under the system of the Yamato administration, is most credible.
久米仙人の伝説（後述）がフィクションであることは言うまでもなく、創建の正確な事情は不明だが、ヤマト政権で軍事部門を担当していた部民制の久米部の氏寺として創建されたとする説が有力である。