|
|
Amida Raigo
Amida is most often depicted flanked by two eminent bodhisattvas, Avalokitesvara (Kannon), the Goddess of Mercy, and Mahasthamaprapta, the Bodhisattva of Power (Seishi Bosatsu)
|
|
 THIS IS A SIDE PAGE
AMIDA RAIGOU TRIAD
Click here to return to
Main Amida Nyorai Page
Below Photos
and Text Courtesy:
Kyoto National Musueum
The triad grouping is one of the most popular manifestations of Amida Buddha in Japan. Amida Nyorai (Buddha) sits in the center and is attended by the Seishi Bosatsu (Mahasthamaprapta) on the right and Kannon Bosatsu (Avalokitesvara) on the left. This grouping is called the Amida Raigo Triad.
Amida Raigo Triad, Late Heian, 12th Century
Amida Nyorai (center), L = Seishi Bosatsu R: Kannon
Joshoko-ji Temple, in the mountains north of Kyoto
Seishi Bosatsu (as shown in prior photo at left)
Raigo and Sculpture
Text courtesy Kyoto National Museum
www.kyohaku.go.jp/mus_dict/hd34e.htm
Depictions of the various Nyorai Buddha rarely show their surrounding environment -- they are almost always shown simply, plainly, and without adornment. But images of Buddha's attendants (Bodhisattvas, Protectors, etc) are often enriched with depictions of movement and surrounding atmosphere. In the late Heian Period, belief in the Pure Land Sect spread, and people began to believe that after death they would be reborn in the Pure Land Paradise of Amida Buddha. As this belief spread, so too grew the desire to see expressions of the Pure Land in Buddhist sculpture. This resulted in images depicting Amida Buddha coming down from the far-off Pure Land Paradise to meet the souls of the dead and take them back to heaven (the pure land). These images are called Raigo, with Amida usually seated in the center with an attendant on either side. This style of sculpture is called the Amida Raigo Triad.
Scenes of the Amida Raigo Triad riding clouds, crossing mountains, and flying through the wind were easy to express through the medium of painting, but many difficulties arose when trying to express such scenes through sculpture. To compensate, the sculptors of the Joshoko-ji triad (above photos) tried to give the attendants a sense of tension and presence by depicting them leaning forward.
Towards the end of the Heian Period, and especially during the Kamakura Period, artistic expression became more realistic, both in painting and sculpture. One area in which this can be seen is in Raigo sculptures. The triad above from Joshoko-ji Temple is one of the earliest experiments in realism in a Raigo triad. In the above sculpture, the triad ride upon clouds as they gradually make their descent. <end text Kyoto National Museum>
 |
山越阿弥陀図 - Yamagoe Amida
Hanging Scroll. Color on Silk. National Treasure of Japan.
Kamakura Era, Treasure of Zenrin-ji Temple
Decent of Amida Over the Mountain
Zenrin-ji is also home to the famous Mikaeri Amida (見返り阿弥陀), a statue showing Amida looking back. For more on Zenrin-ji, also known as Eikando, please click here. For a list of the temple's treasures, click here.
Yamagoe no Amida 山越阿弥陀
Below Text Courtesy JAANUS
www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/y/yamagoenoamida.htm
Also read Yamagoshi no Amida. Also Amida Yamagoe/Yamagoshi Raigou 阿弥陀山越来迎. Literally Amida Coming Over the Mountain. A variant of the raigou painting (raigouzu 来迎図), with Amida, either seated or standing, shown rising above or coming through a mountain landscape in the foreground with various attendants accompanying him. Amida's mudra is usually the Tenbourin-in 転法輪印, Amida's preaching mudra, with both hands turned outward and thumb and forefinger forming circles before the chest. This mudra (hand gesture) is associated with the upper grade: middle birth (joubon chuushou 上品中生) of the Amida Kubon-in 阿弥陀九品印. The Yamagoe Amida paintings were displayed during the nembutsu 念仏 practice for a dying person. A fragment of the five-colored strings, which are thought to once connect a dying believer with the deity, remain on Amida's hand. An example of this is the 14-century painting at Konkaikoumyouji Temple 金戒光明寺 in Kyoto. The origin of the Yamagoe Amida iconography is not clear. Legend says that it is derived from a vision of the Tendai 天台 monk Genshin 源信 (942-1017).
Amida Sanzon Raigou 阿弥陀三尊来迎
Below text courtesy JAANUS
A visit to the above link is highly recommended.
Painted images of Buddhas (Jp = Nyorai) and Bodhisattvas (Jp = Bosatsu), such as Shaka 釈迦, Yakushi 薬師, Miroku 弥勒, Kannon 観音, and Jizou 地蔵, but most notably Amida 阿弥陀 and his attendants, "coming in welcome (raigou 来迎)" to the Western Paradise. Where Amida is depicted, the image is often called Amida Raigou-zu 阿弥陀来迎図. Followers of Pure Land Buddhism (Jouudokyou 浄土教) believe that upon death Amida and his retinue will descend from his Western Pure Land (saihou gokuraku joudo 西方極楽浄土) to earth to welcome and escort the devotee back to his Paradise. The doctrinal basis for this belief is to be found in the nineteen of Amida's 48 vows enumerated in the MURYOUJUKYOU 無量寿経 (the Larger Sukhavatiyuha Sutra, or "Sutra of Infinite Life"). Amida, often flanked by Kannon and Seishi 勢至 (an image known as Amida Sanzon Raigou 阿弥陀三尊来迎) and frequently accompanied by the rest of his heavenly retinue of bodhisattvas and heavenly beings (Amida shoujuu raigou 阿弥陀聖衆来迎), or sometimes limited to 25 bodhisattvas (known as Amida nijuugo bosatsu raigou 阿弥陀二十五菩薩来迎), is usually shown in painting as descending towards earth on a cloud that trails off on a diagonal. The emphatic jin'un no Amida 迅雲阿弥陀 (swift cloud Amida) or haya-raigou 早来迎 (fast raigou) type shows Amida hastily descending at an angle of 45 degrees, lending a degree of inevitability and immediacy to Amida's promised salvation . In the rapid descents Amida often stands and is turned three-quarters to the side, but in the more gentle descents, he may be seated displaying the raigou-in 来迎印 mudra and facing forward. A variant pose shows Amida and his attendants turned completely around and heading back to his Pure Land Paradise. This is called the kaeri raigou 帰り来迎, or "returning raigou."
Raigozu (Decent of Amida Buddha) Painting
Courtesy Kyoto National Museum
Amida Coming over the Mountain
Hanging Scroll, Color on Silk
Kamakura Period (National Treasure)
The earliest raigou theme in Japan appears to have been the paintings of the kubon raigou 九品来迎 (also known as kubon oujou 九品往生), or the "Nine Levels of Birth," depicted in the bottom outside court of the Taima mandara 当麻曼荼羅, also known as a Kangyou hensou 観経変相 (Transformation Scene of the KANMURYOUJUKYOU 観無量寿経 Sutra) and dating back to the late 8th century. Independent kubon raigou themes appeared on the wooden doors and panels of Amida halls (Amidadou 阿弥陀堂) in the early Heian period. The earliest extant example is in the Phoenix Hall (Hououdou 鳳凰堂), Byoudouin 平等院, dated to 1053. Also instrumental in the development of individual raigou paintings was the Tendai 天台 monk Genshin 源信 (942-1047), whose OUJOUYOUSHUU 往生要集 (Essentials of Salvation) served as a guide for the Amidist faithful, helping them in their final moments to ensure their rebirth in Amida's Pure Land. Genshin's vivid descriptions of the glories of Amida and his Pure Land inspired the creation of a different lineage of raigou paintings and a set of practices for the faithful as they approached death. For example, in terminal practice (see rokuji myougou 六字名号), the dying believer would chant the nenbutsu 念仏 (supplication to Amida), lie on his bed, place his head to the north and face west, where one or more sculptures of Amida or an Amida raigou painting would be strategically placed in his line of vision. A five colored cord, like that attached to the painting of the Yamagoe no Amida 山越阿弥陀 (Amida Coming Over the Mountain) at the Konkaikoumyouji Temple 金戒光明寺 in Kyoto, would then be attached to the image or painting at one end and held by the devotee at the other, thereby establishing a physical link between the two at the moment of death.
Variant Amida forms include: Hafuki Amida 歯吹阿弥陀, or Amida with mouth open; Gokoushii Amida 五劫思惟阿弥陀, or Amida contemplating for Five Kalpas; Guhari Amida 紅玻璃阿弥陀, or red-skinned Amida; Houkan Amida 宝冠阿弥陀, or Amida with a Jeweled Crown. Several additional Amida image types are: Amida Raigou 阿弥陀来迎, or Amida Welcoming Descent; Kubon Amida 九品阿弥陀, Amida of the Nine Levels of Birth in Paradise; Mikaeri Amida 見返り阿弥陀, Amida Looking Back; and Yamagoe Amida (also read Yamagoshi-no-Amida) 山越阿弥陀, Amida Coming Over the Mountain. <end quote from JAANUS>
|
LEARN MORE
Raigo of Amida and Twenty-five Attendants
Hanging scroll, color on silk
Kamakura Period (National Treasure, Chion-in Temple, Kyoto)
Photo courtesy Kyoto National Museum
THIS IS A SIDE PAGE
Click here to return to
Main Amida Nyorai Page
|
|
Amida Sanzon Raigou
