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Batou Kannon @”n“ͺŠΟ‰Ή
KEY WORD :@art history / iconography
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Sk: Hayagriva. Also called Batou Myouou ”n“ͺ–Ύ‰€. The Horse-headed *Kannon ŠΟ‰Ή in an angry, funnu œ|“{, form. He is also considered to be the angry form of the Buddha Muryouju –³—ΚŽυ. One of the *Roku Kannon ˜ZŠΟ‰Ή, who saves those in the realm of animals, and also one of the hachidai myouou ”ͺ‘ε–Ύ‰€ (see *myouou –Ύ‰€). He is distinguished by the white horse's head that he wears like a crown. The horse is one of the symbols of dominion of the Ideal king, Kyouryou rinjin ‹³—ߗ֐g (or Kyouryou jouou ‹³—ߐΉ‰€; Sk: Chakravartin). There are many different forms of Batou having one to three faces and two to eight arms, and he holds different attributes in different images. In the Kannon Section of the *Taizoukai mandara ‘Ω‘ ŠE™ΦδΆ—…, he has three faces and two arms, is red in color, and makes the konpon-in ͺ–{ˆσ gesture in front of his chest. However, in art forms with three faces and eight arms are most common. The cult of Batou appears not to have been as popular as those of the other esoteric Kannon, although it is recorded that an image of Batou was enshrined in Saidaiji Ό‘εŽ› (late 8c), Nara. Batou is sometimes found in sets of the Roku Kannon, but independent images dating from the Heian period are rare. Well-known examples dating from the Kamakura and Muromachi periods include the standing statues in Kanzeonji ŠΟ’‰ΉŽ›, Fukuoka prefecture, and Joururiji ς—Ϊ—žŽ›, Kyoto, as well as the painted image of seated Batou in the Boston Museum of Art. In the Edo period, Batou came to be worshipped as a protector of horses due to his iconography and his role as savior of those in the realm of animals. Many remaining stone statues *sekibutsu Ξ•§, of Batou were once set in place to protect travelers and their horses from injury on dangerous paths. It is also thought that Batou became conflated with a folk horse deity believed to be the vehicle of a deity *kami _, who rides between this world and the sacred realm. Because of this identification, he became the protector of horses and the Buddhist counterpart *honjibutsu –{’n•§, of deities of common komagata ‹ξŒ` (horse-shaped) shrines, which are found all over Japan.
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