Gyoshinji, the 35th temple on the Kyushu Pilgrimage had a large collection of statues lining the forest path that leads to a waterfall used for ascetic training. Reclining Buddhas are not very common in Japan.
I didn't realize until later that the 88 statues represented the honzons of the 88 main temples on the pilgrimage. If I had known I would have paid more attention.
I am getting better at recognizes the different buddhas, bodhisattvas, deities and characters that one finds statues of, but there are so many of them and each may have many variations.
This final one is a complete mystery to me as the hairstyle is ancient Japanese and the figure looks female..... anyone have any ideas?
Posts
That last figure is really interesting! Could it be a kami? Who holds a pagoda? If you do find out who this is, please post! I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen this before.
ReplyDeleteThat's so beautiful and peaceful, Jake... She really speaks to me, but I have no idea who she represents...
ReplyDeletebeautiful !
ReplyDeletethe moss is so splendid !
Could the child-like one be Kobo Daishi as a child? I feel like I saw another one somewhere on the 88 that looked like that
ReplyDelete