A Diversity of Fudo

As any regular reader of this blog will know, I happen to have somewhat of a fascination with Fudo Myo, the fierce, fanged deity surrounded by flames. As I wander around the countryside I am always somewhat reassured to find his countenance, either within a temple or even just along the roadside.

I am also somewhat obsessed with the increasing loss of diversity nowadays.  Certainly, small statues are going to be mass produced, plastic, metal, plaster, concrete, all use molds. Increasingly stone statues or homogenous. Automated and computer-controlled machinery using the same dataset are churning out identical statues everywhere.

so here are a group of diverse statues of Fudo, all found at one temple, Hojoji in Satsuma, Kagoshima, temple 46 on the Kyushu 108 temple pilgrimage dedicated to Kobo Daishi.

The largest one and possibly some others will have been put up by the temple, but the smaller ones will have been dedicated by individual parishioners. Like all the other "deities" you encounter in Japan, Fudo has multiple meanings and powers and is likewise worshipped for a variety of reasons.