Part 3 of the Buddhist Guardian series.
His name is Kendara (健陀羅), one of the four Guardians at Yashamon Gate (夜叉門) of Taiyuin (大猷院) at the World Heritage site in Nikko city, Tochigi Prefecture. Taiyuin is a Buddhist temple at which the 3rd Tokugawa Shogun, Iemitsu Tokugawa (徳川家光) is worshipped.
Kendara is the most explicit figure among the four Guardians there. His upper body is mostly naked, he does not protect knees with funny animal pads, either... He does so probably because he is proud of his fairly pale skin! I like his shoes, though:)
He is armed with a golden sledge hammer.
Let's take a closer look at him.
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| Close-up of his fierce face. |
Although he is composed of terrifying body parts (masculine shape, fangs, facial expression, weapon), he looks somehow comical (I agree with you, Miss Becky!!! Thanks for your thoughtful comment on Bidara post:). This is probably due to his "voguing" and zippy pose!
He is a guardian of the "West".
If you are curious about his friends, please say "Hi" to them;
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| Umarokya |
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| Bidara |
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| White Wednesday |
Oops, last photo above is the badge for White Wednesday meme. Please visit Kathleen's blog to see more white photos. Oh yes, this is also a ABC Wednesday. "Z" is for Zippy. Please explore more "Z" entries.
Ha! I'm honored by the mention, Yoshi!
ReplyDeleteIt is curious that his fangs are growing upward.
And what I like most about this guardian is his left hand - all his fingers pointing out, his hand flattened. I find these figures intriguing and I'm happy you've introduced me to them. thank you very much!
Is he availble for security work? Great photos. Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River.
ReplyDeleteI have so enjoyed your Buddhist Guardian series of posts! Your photos are marvelous and I do appreciate the very interesting information you have included! Great one today for the Z Day! Hope your week is going well, Yoshi! Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteSylvia
He looks fierce! I like the pose he is striking.
ReplyDeleteAin't messin' with THAT dude, zippy or not!
ReplyDeleteROG, ABC Wednesday team
Love the orange hair.
ReplyDeleteAn Arkies Musings
Thanks....I like this guardian.....(you are ahead of me with 7 hours....wow....very cool, now your clock is 3am and is 12 January....and mine shows 8pm on 11 January)....his fangs are like a boar's....
ReplyDeleteFlory
His orange hair makes him quite zippy. Great post and photo for the letter Z.
ReplyDeleteHe sure is a zippy dresser!
ReplyDeleteYes, a very colorful Zippy post.
ReplyDeleteAgain insteresting information and photos. I wouldn't have placed this within Japan, it strikes me as something else. Is it's orgin Japanese? I'm sorry if you've already mentioned this previously.
ReplyDeletelove the colors!
ReplyDeleteIt looks hard walking in those heavy and clawy shoes. :)
ReplyDeleteMaybe this guy is my favorite so far, he looks not so scary as the other two guards. I am very curious of the 4th statue!
ReplyDeleteVery good photo series!
You don't expect to see anything so...buff. Great post.
ReplyDeleteDonna
Very interesting!!
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to four guardians, 四天王-Four Heavenly Guardian Kings in 戒壇院 of Todai-ji Temple,usually pope up in my mind, who guard in four directions. But these guardians are very colorful and unique.
Does each of them guard each direction?
And this white guardian is quite different. He has a horn on his head. And His eyebrows look trendy as if he had his eyebrows shaped like Japanese young men shave to shape their eyebrows.
Thank you for your excellent, intriguing blog!!
Hi everybody,
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for your comments. Really appreciate it.
Hi Miss Becky,
You are welcome.
Hi Gary,
Sure he can be the best for this sort of work!
Hi Sylvia,
Thanks for your sweet comment, as always.
Hi Jedediah,
I agree with you.
Hi Roger,
Haha..
Hi Richies,
I do, too.
Hi Unigue Kid,
Glad that you mentioned boar. I have been thinking of animals with similar fangs!
Hi photowannabe,
Thanks.
Hi EG Wow,
Sure he is.
Hi Wanda,
Thanks
Hi T. Becque,
No it's not a Japanese origin. Buddhist guardian is derived from Sanskrit devil.
Hi audrey marie,
Yes, I do, too.
Hi AVCr8teur,
I agree with you. It looks just nice but not comfortable, I am afraid.
Hi Mr. Paparazzo,
Thanks for your comment as always. Yes, the fourth one is up!
HI Misfit in Paradise,
Thanks.
Hi snowwhite,
ReplyDeleteYes, you're right. Each direction is protected by each Guardian.
As for white Kendara, I was not certain about his horn until you mentioned. I took his photo from one direction and I was not convinced whether or not it's his horn or the tip of his hummer... I guess you are right. I looked carefully the photos of Kendara and he appears to have a horn!!!
Haha, when I looked at his eyebrows, that's what reminded me of!
Thanks for your compliment!
I love it. We were in Nikko a couple of years ago. I was also there on a college trip about 40 years ago. I remember our guide telling us everything was "kekko in Nikko".
ReplyDeleteHonestly speaking, I'm not so sure, maybe or maybe not. I'm looking forward to hearing your report on them!!.
ReplyDeleteYour discussion on 夜叉 sounds very intereting!!