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The deities Amida, Kannon, and Jizo became extremely popular during the Kamakura Period, and today remain the bedrock of Buddhism for the common folk. Amida for the coming life in paradise, Kannon for salvation in earthly life, and Jizo for salvation from hell.
KANNON
Skt. Seed Sounds
SA
Amida Triad
Kannon often appears in the Amida Raigo Triad, for the Kannon is one of the principal attendants of Amida, the Buddha of the Western Paradise. Often, you will find a figurehead of Amida among the Kannon's eleven heads (see headdress in top photo; Amida in central top position). Kannon is often attended by Nikko and Gakko Bosatsu as well.
In Woodblocks by
Utagawa Kunisada
Miracles of Kannon
Below Text From:
jodo.org
According to the Meditation Sutra (kammuryoju-kyo), the Kannon Bodhisattva, together with Seishi Bodhisattva, accompanies Amida Buddha and welcomes people who recite the name of the Buddha at the time of their deaths. Popular worship of Kannon began in India and then spread throughout China and Japan. Originally male in form, Kannon is now commonly portrayed as female in China, Japan and the rest of East Asia.
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KANNON BOSATSU
Sanskrit = Avalokitesvara, Avalokiteshvara, Lokeshvara
GODDESS OF MERCY, GOD OF COMPASSION
Help For People in Distress in the Earthly Realm
Chinese = Kuan Yin or Guanshiyin; Tibetan = Spyan-ras-gzigs
Less-Known Japanese Spellings = Kanjizai, Kanzeon, Kwannon
Last Update August 9, 2004
Koyasu Kannon (Child Giving) Kannon - Aug. 2004
Batou Kannon (Kannon with Horse Head) - Aug. 2004
11-headed Kannon, Fujiwara Era, Rakuya-ji Temple
Historical Notes
The Goddess of Mercy embodies compassion and is one of the most widely worshiped divinities in Japan and mainland Asia. Kannon literally means "watchful listening," which could be loosely translated as "the one who sees/hears all." This is indeed the task of the compassionate Kannon bodhisattva -- to witness/listen to the prayers of those in difficulty in the earthly realm, and to help them achieve enlightenment. Originally male, Kannon is commonly portrayed as female in China, Japan and elsewhere in Asia. Why this is so is not easily explained or understood.
The Kannon can appear in many different forms to save people according to their time and place. The Avalokitesvara Sutra mentions 33 specific forms. Says Shaku Soen (deceased), lord abbot of Engakuji Temple: "She will be a philosopher, merchant, man of letters, person of low birth, or anything as required by the occasion, while her sole aim is to deliver all beings without exception from ignorance and suffering."
In traditional Japanese Buddhist art and sculpture, the "Sho Kannon" represents the unchangeable form of the deity -- the "pure and sacred" form -- while her other manifestations are commonly referred to as the 33 keshin (see adjacent table and below photos).
The worship of Kannon Bosatsu probably began in Japan in the 7th century, soon after Buddhism reached Japan by way of China and Korea. In Japan, the Kannon is often depicted with eleven faces (Jyuichi-men Kannon), symbolic of shedding sweetness and mercy in all directions. Since she is one of the principal attendants of Amida Nyorai, the Buddha of the Western Paradise, you will also find a figure of the Amida among her eleven heads (see her topmost central headdress in first photo above).
The Kannon is also often shown with a thousand arms (Senjyu Kannon), symbolic of her ability to embrace earth and alleviate the suffering of all people in the earthly realm. In Japan, the most widely known pilgrimage circuit devoted to Kannon covers 100 sites, and making the circuit to each in proper order is said to save the believer from Hell and to open the gates to everlasting life. The Kannon occupies a major place in the liturgy of the Pure Land Sect in Japan, whose principal deity of worship is Amida Nyorai.
The Male Goddess (huh?)
Originally male in Indian mythology, the Kannon is more often portrayed as female in China, Japan and other Asian countries. Although Kannon is translated as Goddess of Mercy, the "goddess" part is doubtful, for according to Buddhist teachings, a female bodhisattva is impossible -- and unsupported by any canonical text -- and sexually specific depictions of Kannon are always male. If you click the photo at the top this page, moreover, a close look will reveal that the "goddess" has a mustache.
Japanese Mantra for Kannon Bosatsu
Chinese and Japanese Myths
Known as Kuan-yin in China, the Kannon is said to be the spiritual son of Amitabha (Amida), although images of the Kannon always appear as a goddess. The Chinese also say that Kuan-yin (Kwanjin) was born into this world as the daughter of the King of the Chow Dynasty. Sentenced to death by her father for refusing to marry, she was sent to the executioner's block, where it is said the executioner's sword broke without inflicting a wound.
 Other Chinese tales say her spirit went to Hell, but her radiance turned hell into paradise, so the King of the infernal regions sent her back to earth again, transporting her on a lotus flower. In Japan, the Buddhist nun Chujo Hime is said to be an incarnation of the Kannon. Chujo Hime is also regarded as one of the greatest early Japanese embroidery artists. To Tibetans, the current Dalai Lama is an incarnation of Kannon.
 The Treasures of Hase Dera, Kamakura
This large 11-headed gilt statue (see photo at right), built sometime in the 8th century, stands over nine meters high, making it the largest wooden statue in Japan. Folklore says this wooden statue was carved from a giant camphor tree by the monk Tokudo in 721 AD, who made two images from the same tree. The first image was enshrined in a temple in Nara Prefecture, while the second (the statue now at Hase Dera in Kamakura) was cast into the sea with prayers that it float to an area where it had greatest karmic connection and thereafter save souls in that area. According to legend, it washed up on shore in 736, at Nagai, in the Miura Peninsula, slightly south of Kamakura, glowing brightly, it is said, and later it was transferred to its present site at Hase Dera in Kamakura.
 33 Incarnations
of the Goddess of Mercy
Thirty-three wood-carved figures were presented to Hase Kannon Temple (aka Hase Dera) by shogun Yoshimasa (1449-1471). They represent the keshin, or incarnations, of the Goddess of Mercy, who, it is said, comes in many forms to save the souls of the suffering. To Tibetans, for example, the Dalai Lama is an incarnation of Kannon. Pictured here are some of the 33 keshin. Photo at right scanned from brochure of Hase Dera in Kamakura.
The Number 33
The Avalokitesvara Sutra mentions 33 specific forms of the Kannon. But it is unclear why the number 33 was used. One theory relates to the Buddhist realm called Mt. Shumisen (or Mt. Sumeru, originally from Hindu mythology). In this heavenly palace of the Buddha and all followers, there are 33 deities who guard and protect the realm. They are commanded by Taishakuten, who governs the other 32 gods who live in Zenkenjo (Palace of Correct Views) in the Buddhist heaven (Trayastrimsha) on the peak of Mt. Sumeru; click here for more. In Japan, there are 100 temples nationwide that are sacred to Kannon, and making the circuit to each in proper order is said to save the believer from Hell and to open the gates to everlasting life. .
Below: Photos of some "Keshin" (Incarnations of Kannon)
  
Kannon With Horse's Head (Batou Kannon, 馬頭観音)
See above photo with horse's head. Farmers pray to this particular manifestation of the Kannon for the safety and preservation of their horses and cattle, and Batou Kannon is not only said to protect dumb animals, particularly those who labor for mankind, but she extends her power to protecting their spirits and bringing them ease and a happier life than they experienced while on earth. (Source: Myths and Legends of Japan, by F. Hadland Davis, 1913)
Says site reader and contributor GABI
"By neighing like a horse, these deities ward off the bad demons. Batoo Kannon has been known in Japan since 7th century. She is especially honored by the horse breeders in Northern Japan. Nowadays you even find bicycles in front of the stone votive statues on waysides. There is also a version with the head of an ox (gotoo Kannon) or a pig (tontoo Kannon). There is also a special mudra for the horse headed deity -- Batoo Myoo-in, Bakoo-in (or makoo-in) -- as quoted from Ashida and Hanayama. " <end quote by GABI>
More about Batou Kannon
Below text courtesy of:
JAANUS: Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System
http://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/b/batoukannon.htm
NOTE: Below text uses Japanese characters. You'll need a Japanese font set on your computer to read the Japanese characters.
 Batou Kannon 馬頭観音
Sk: Hayagriva. Also called Batou Myouou 馬頭明王､. The "Horse-headed" Kannon. Kannon 観音 in an angry, funnu 忿怒, form. He is also considered to be the angry form of the Buddha Muryouju 無量寿. One of the Six Kannon, Roku Kannon 六観音, who saves those in the realm of animals, and also one of the Hachidai Myouou 八大明王. He is distinguished by the white horse's head that he wears like a crown. The horse is one of the symbols of dominion of the "Ideal king," Kyouryourinjin 教令輪身 (or Kyouryoujouou 教令聖王; Sk: Chakravartin). There are many different forms of Batou having one to three faces and two to eight arms, and he holds different attributes in different images. In the Kannon Section of the Taizoukai Mandala 胎蔵界曼荼羅, he has three faces and two arms, is red in color, and makes the komponin 根本印 gesture in front of his chest. However, in art forms with three faces and eight arms are most common. The cult of Batou appears not to have been as popular as those of the other esoteric Kannon, although it is recorded that an image of Batou was enshrined in Saidaiji 西大寺 in Nara in the late 8c. Batou is sometimes found in sets of the Six Kannon, but independent images dating from the Heian period (794-1185) are rare. Well-known examples dating from the Kamakura and Muromachi (1392-1568) periods include the standing statues in Kanzeonji 観世音寺 of Fukuoka prefecture and Joururiji 浄瑠璃寺 of Kyoto, as well as the painted image of seated Batou in the Boston Museum of Art. In the Edo period (1600-1868), Batou came to be worshipped as a protector of horses due to his iconography and his role as savior of those in the realm of animals. Many remaining stone statues (sekibutsu 石仏) of Batou were once set in place to protect travelers and their horses from injury on dangerous paths. It is also thought that Batou became conflated with a folk horse deity believed to be the vehicle of a deity (kami 神), who rides between this world and the sacred realm. Because of this identification, he became the protector of horses and the Buddhist counterpart (honjibutsu 本地仏) of deities of common Komagata 駒形 (lit. "Horse-shaped") shrines, which are found all over Japan. <end quote from JAANUS>
Also see below link for some interesting notes about Batou Kannon.
www2.gol.com/users/nhavens/htmlfile/bato-e.html
Site of Norman Havens, Fujino Township
1000- Armed Kannon (Senju Kannon)
Although the word Senju Kannon means thousand-armed Kannon, most sculptures show only 42 arms -- two are regular arms, but each of the remaining 40 arms represents the 25 Buddhist worlds (thus, 40 times 25 equals 1000).
1000-arm Kannon (Senju Kannon)
8th century, Fujii-dera (in Osaka)
Above photo courtesy of:
LEARN MORE
- Kannon Photo Tour (40+ Photos) - Last Update Sept. 20, 2004
- Manjushri Buddhist Directory - Quite Excellent
A wonderful site that combines research with photos, and provides the Indian, Chinese, Japanese, and Tibetan name of the various Buddhas.
www.manjushri.com/BUDDHA/Avalokitesvara.html
- Kannon Pilgramages Nationwide. Complete list of 100 Japanese sites sacred to the Kannon Boddhisattva (bosatsu).
- Kannon Pilgramage in Kamakura. 33 Sites in Kamakura sacred to the Kannon Bosatsu.
- Koyasu (Child-Giving) Kannon, Juntei Kannon
Kannon as the Protector of Children
- NEED TO RESEARCH
The Japanese martial art Isshin-Ryu uses Megami-no-Isshinryu as its symbol. Megami is also represented as a water goddess named Ryuzu Kannon. This goddess is often depicted riding a dragon, seated on a dragon, or sometimes standing next to one. See the Kannon Photo Tour (this site) for images of Kannon riding a dragon. Also, this form of the Kannon may have originated from the holy mountain Mt. Hakusan.
- Images (google search results)
- www.msisshinryu.com
Biographies, pictures and insights on Isshin-Ryu
Also see Scott Robert's Megami Page at this site
- www.msisshinryu.com/articles/aja/nahanchi_sanchin.html
- www.olemiss.edu/orgs/karate/megami.html
- www.isshin1.com/tatsuo_shimabuku.htm
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