Abstract
Two bodhisattvas, statues come to life, dance across a bridge. The first, Kannon Bodhisattva, extends a large lotus pedestal, carved of wood and painted gold. Twenty-three bodhisattvas have already crossed the bridge, each holding a distinctive item such as a musical instrument, a canopy, or a flower garland. They are all on their way to greet a dying person and escort her, seated on the lotus, to the Pure Land of Amida Buddha. This is the famous Welcoming Ceremony (Mukaekō) of Taimadera temple, in Japan’s Nara prefecture, which takes place every year on May 14. Crowded around the bridge are hundreds of spectators, many with cameras. No one is actually dying. This is a religious ceremony, a festival, in which observers rehearse the vision they hope to see at their own death.
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Notes
Seki Nobuko, “‘Mukaekō Amidazō’ kō I: Taimadera no raigōe to Kōbōji no mukaekō Amidazō,” Bukkyō geijutsu 221 (July 1995): 104.
Sagazaki Shirō, “Shōju raigō no hi: nijugo bosatsu nerikuyō,” in Jodo e no akogare, Taiyō hotoke no bi to kokoro shiriizu 2, Taiyō shiriizu 34, ed. Satō Shinji (Tokyo: Heibonsha, 1983), 121.
Seki Nobuko, “‘Mukaekō Amidazō’ kō IV: Mukaekō Amidazō zōritsu no haikei to jōdokyō geijutsu ni ataeta eikyō,”Bukkyō geijutsu 228 (Sept. 1996): 82–83.
Seki Nobuko, “‘Mukaekō Amidazō’ kō I: Taimadera no raigōe to Kōbōji no mukaekō Amidazō,” Bukkyō geijutsu 221 (Jul. 1995): 107.
Seki Nobuko, “‘Mukaekō Amidazō’ kō II: Taimadera no mukaekō Amidazō,” Bukkyōgeijutsu 223 (Dec. 1995): 92.
Itō Shirō, Heian jidai chōkokushi no kenkyu (Nagoya: Nagoya Daigaku Shuppankai, 2001), 245–246.
Iwabashi Haruki, “Migawari Amida Butsu: Hohoyake Amida engi,” in Jōdo e no akogare, Taiyō hotoke no bi to kokoro shiriizu 2, Taiyō shiriizu 34, ed. Satō Shinji (Tokyo: Heibonsha, 1983), 134.
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© 2007 Sarah J. Horton
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Horton, S.J. (2007). Connected to Amida Buddha. In: Living Buddhist Statues in Early Medieval and Modern Japan. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230607149_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230607149_3
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
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