金剛夜叉明王|Kongōyasha Myōō

Unknown

12th century · Hanging scroll; ink on paper · Asian Art

Kongōyasha Myōō is one of the Five Great Guardian Kings in Esoteric Buddhism. His ferocious aspect is a manifestation of the wrath of the Five Wisdom Buddhas against evil. Kongōyasha Myōō is presented with three faces, five eyes, and six arms, with each hand holding one of his attributes: a wheel, an arrow, a bow, a sword, a tri-pronged vajra, and a vajra bell. Introduced from China by Kobo Daishi (774-836), a founder of Shingon Esoteric Buddhism, the Five Great Guardian Kings became an important ritual icon, called upon as protectors of the nation during the Ninnōkyō ceremony (Sutra of the Benevolent Kings), which was performed on special occasions

Artist

Unknown

Date

12th century

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink on paper

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

The Harry G. C. Packard Collection of Asian Art, Gift of Harry G. C. Packard, and Purchase, Fletcher, Rogers, Harris Brisbane Dick, and Louis V. Bell Funds, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and The Annenberg Fund Inc. Gift, 1975