Enryaku-ji Temple has been called the mother of Japanese Buddhism, because it produced countless famous monks: Ennin, who laid the foundations of Japanese Tendai Buddhism; Enchin; Ryonin, the founder of the Yuzu Nenbutsu sect; Honen, the founder of the Jodo sect; Shinran, the founder of the Jodo Shin sect; Eisai, the founder of the Rinzai sect; Dogen, the founder of the Soto sect; Nichiren, the founder of the Nichiren sect; and many others, including founders of new sects and famous figures in the history of Japanese Buddhism spent their early years training at Mt. Hiei.
延暦寺は数々の名僧を輩出し、日本天台宗の基礎を築いた円仁、円珍、融通念仏の開祖良忍、浄土宗の開祖法然、浄土真宗の開祖親鸞、臨済宗の開祖栄西、曹洞宗の開祖道元、日蓮宗の開祖日蓮など、新仏教の開祖や、日本仏教史上著名な僧の多くが若い日に比叡山で修行していることから、「日本仏教の母山」とも称されている。