Essay name: Buddhist iconography in and outside India (Study)
Author:
Purabi Gangopadhyay
Affiliation: University of Calcutta / Department of Ancient Indian History and Culture
This work aims to systematically present the development and expansion of Mahayana-Vajrayana Buddhist iconography from India to other countries, such as China, Korea, and Japan. This study includes a historical account of Indian Buddhist iconography and the integration of Brahmanical gods into the Mahayana-Vajrayana phase.
Chapter 4: Japanese Buddhist Iconography (a Comparative Study)
92 (of 101)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
Download the PDF file of the original publication
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
176
-
consort Dhumrorṇ� on his left lap. He holds a staff and sword
in his right hands, while his left hands carry a trident with
rosary, and a human face with flames around is being shown on
the top of the staff.
The Chinese Buddhist Tripitaka³ has provided a number
of figures of Emma-ten. According to the Tripitaka Yama is
known as Emma-rao or Yama Raja when drawn in the Daihi-
taizō-dai Mandara (Mahākarunāgarbha Mandala). In this mandara
Emma-rao is seen seated on a crouching buffalo and the palm
of his right hand is half open, while in his left hand, he
holds a long stick whose top end bears a human head over a
crescent. In this representation curously enough, the deity
Kālarātri is seen inside Emma-rao². The Iripitaka text has
also mentioned about Emma-ten of Kongo Kai Mandara (Vajradhātu
Mandala) where the deity is seated on a crouching buffalo
being surrounded by a number of deities including Citragupta
(Taizanfukun).
Dainichi-kyō (Mahāvairocana Sutra) says that the
vehicle of (Yama) Emma-ten is a buffalo. The colour of the
body is as black as that of the thundering cloud. He sits on
his mount and holds Danjo-in, i.e. a stick whose top end bears
a human head. Other texts, such as Seishō-Bucchō-Shu-Yuqa-
Hō-Giki, the Shiō-setsu-in and the Shosetsu-Fudo-ki also
variously described the deity.
1. CBT, Vol.I and III.
2.
For details about Kalaratri see the pages 178
work.
of this
