Sonshou mandara　尊勝曼荼羅

KEY WORD :　art history / iconography

A variety of *besson mandara 別尊曼荼羅 that evolved from the cult centered on the BUTCHOU SONSHOU DARANI 仏頂尊勝陀羅尼 (Sk: Usnisavijaya-dharan; Taishou Nos. 967, etc.). It is used in the Sonshou rite, Sonshouhou 尊勝法, which is performed for longevity and the absolution of sins, and among the many types of besson mandara, examples of the Sonshou mandara are particularly numerous. There are three main types of this msndala *mandara 曼荼羅. In the first type *Dainichi 大日 is depicted in the center surrounded by the eight great *Butchou 仏頂 (Buddha-Crown), while *Fudou Myouou 不動明王 and *Gouzanze Myouou 降三世明王, the two chief *myouou 明王, are depicted to the lower left and lower right respectively. Fudou Myouou is drawn inside a triangle and Gouzanze Myouou inside a semicircle because they are considered to correspond to the elements of fire and wind, which are symbolized by a triangle and a semicircle. There are many examples of this variety of Sonshou mandara, including those at Houjuin 宝寿院, Mt. Kouya 高野 in Wakayama prefecture, and Daigoji 醍醐寺 in Kyoto and two each at Onjouji 園城寺 (Miidera 三井寺) in Shiga prefecture and Touji 東寺 (Kyouougokokuji 教王護国寺) in Kyoto. In the second type Dainichi is surrounded not by the eight great Butchou but by the eight bodhisattvas *bosatsu 菩薩 listed in the HACHIDAIBOSATSU MANDARAKYOU 八大菩薩曼荼羅経 (Taishou No. 1167); no polychrome examples of this mandara have, however, been reported, and there exist only line drawings *hakubyou 白描. The third type omits the eight great Butchou altogether and consists only of the triad of Dainichi, Fudou Myouou and Gouzanze Myouou; an example is found at Kongouji 金剛寺 in Osaka, and the three images of these deities enshrined in the Kondou 金堂 of the same temple are a well-known example of a three-dimensional representation of this mandara.

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