Upon the extension of the buildings in the Chion-in Temple in 1603 during the period of the twelfth chief priest Junnyo in West Hongan-ji Temple, the Edo bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun) provided the site where Otani Mausoleum is located now as an alternative to the site where Otani Hongan-ji Temple had been built.
西本願寺第十二世の准如時代の1603年（慶長8年）に江戸幕府は知恩院の造営に際して、大谷本願寺跡地の代替地として現在地を与えた。