Buddhist iconography in and outside India (Study)
by Purabi Gangopadhyay | 2016 | 47,446 words
This essay represents a a comparative study of Buddhist iconography in and outside India, focusing on regions such as China, Korea, and Japan. The study is divided into four chapters, covering: 1. The emergence of Buddhism in India and its spread to other countries; 2. A historical account of Indian Buddhist iconography and the integration of Brahm...
Images of Kokuan-tennyo (Kalaratri) in Japan
Kalaratri, is an attendant of Emma, who is placed in the class of the minor gods. The Chinese Buddhist d Tripitaka enumerates an interesting figure of Kalaratri, who is known in Japan as Kokuan-tennyo as one of the deities of Dai-taizo-dai mandara (Mahakarunaqarbha Mandala). Here the two armed deity is depicted as an attendant deity of Yamaraja, or Emma-rao. Kalaratri possess the complexion of meat-colour. The deity is seen as seated in an easy pose looking at Emma-rao who rides on a crouching buffalo, while his left hand holds a stick with a crescent over which human head is placed.