Koukamon Gate

Koukamon Gate (皇嘉門) at 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.

Iemitsu TOKUGAWA (image from Wiki)

To enjoy what Taiyuin has to offer, you are supposed to pay 550 JPY (around $6-7). However, there are places that are still prohibited for visitors to enter. You will see warning "Off limit" signs at particular places.

Koukamon Gate, built under the influence of the Ming Dynasty style of China, is the entrance gate to the Okunoin Inner House (奥の院), where Iemitsu's spirit sleeps. There is no "Off limit" sign in front of the Koukamon Gate, however, no visitors are allowed to go any further than that gate. Even the priests working at Taiyuin have very limited opportunity to go through the gate. Yes, Okunoin Inner House is that sacred of a place!!!

This is a That's my world entry.

Abatsumara

I am pleased to announce that, finally, this is the last entry (part 4) of the Buddhist Guardian series. I am sure that all of you guys are relieved to hear that.

He is "The last Statue Standing", named Abatsumara (阿跋摩羅), 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.

Abatsumara is not as explicit as Kendara, but more than Bidara and Umarokya. Like Kendara, his knees are naked, whereas in the case of Bidara and Umarokya, their knees have companion kneepads of catfish and elephant, respectively.

He holds a golden stick in his right hand as a weapon and his left forefinger is pointing upward (toward heaven?). I am not sure of the significance of this pose...

Let's take a closer look at him.

Close-up view of his face

Close-up view of his waist

   











His orange hair is all standing up. Unlike others, he has no fierce fangs but shining white teeth. Well, his eyebrows need to be trimmed... Note the skin of white tiger around his waist. It's a unique feature of him. He does not have a pair of shoes.

He's a guardian of the "East".

Before ending this series, I would like to mention the background, which is carved with flowers. Can you tell what these flowers are?

Lower one is covered with Goldl!!!

They are all Peonies that appear behind all of the four statues. I am not certain why peony was chosen. Anyway, based on that, Yashamon Gate is also called Botanmon gate (牡丹門; Botan - Peony, Mon - Gate).

Tokugawa Clan's Emblem

Can you see the emblem above? I know it's hard to find but it is the emblem (家紋) of the Tokugawa clan (徳川氏).

All right. That's it!

Thanks for your patience.

This is a Alphabe-Thursday entry. "N" is for Nikko.

If you haven't seen his friends, be prepared to be thrilled!

Umarokya

Bidara

Kendara

"Z"ippy Kendara

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.

Close-up of his fierce face.

He has wavy orange hair and brown/orange fangs. Note the unusual orientation of his fangs. They are growing upwards!!! Don't ask me why... So horrifying! I like his eyebrows, though...

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;

Umarokya

Bidara

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.

Bidara

Part 2 of Buddhist Guardian series.

His name is Bidara (毘陀羅), 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.

Hi my name is Umarokya! Click on me to enlarge.

He is as scary as Umarokya (烏摩勒伽), who appeared in the previous entry. Bidara has red skin, curly brown hair,  sharp gold fangs, shining gold stick in his right hand, and his left hand is ready to punch your face. Also note that he has catfish heads for knee pads. He wears slippers with the same color as his knee pads... Is it made of catfish skin??? That I am not sure... One of his roles is to guard the "South", whereas Umarokya is guarding the "North"


This is a Ruby Tuesday entry.

Umarokya

Umarokya (烏摩勒伽), which I think one of the Buddhist Guardians, is 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.

This scary macho guy in the photo has curly orange hair, sharp fangs, an arrow in his right hand, and an edgy sword in the left one. Also note that he has elephant heads for knee pads, which is scary enough to guess his height!!!

At shrines, you can see a wooden arrow called Hamaya (破魔矢: literally "demon breaking arrow"). Actually the arrow that he is holding in his right hand is the origin of Hamaya! Yes, that Shinto military weapon comes from Buddhism! Well, back in the old days, there weren't any such distinctions between the two religions in Japan.

At Taiyuin when you proceed from Yashamon Gate, you will find a Haiden Oratory (拝殿) where you get a lecture in Japanese only (sorry for the inconvenience for you guys). At the end of the lecture delivered by Buddhist monk there, you are encouraged to buy Hamaya made of metal. It's a Taiyuin original, which is cool. I think that this is a very smart strategy because by the time the lecture is over (15 min or so), I am sure that your legs are too numb to stand up for a while. Then you are surrounded by Buddhist monks, giving you a big smile, with expensive Hamaya Arrows in their right hands. Just like the blue Umarokya statue in this picture (but not a real sharp sword in their left hands)! I bed you that they will do their best to sell. Maybe they speak to you in English or your native language:)))


Part 2 of Buddha guardian series is "Bidara"(毘陀羅)

Hi my name is Bidara. Please click on me to get me the hell out of this tiny frame.

This is a Blue Monday and That's my world entry.