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Painting of the Shaka Jūroku Zenjin (sixteen protectors of the historical Buddha)
Painting of the Shaka Jūroku Zenjin (sixteen protectors of the historical Buddha)
Municipally Designated Important Cultural Property (designated by Setouchi City in 2004)
Made: 16th century
Hōkōji Temple, Kashino, Ushimado
Color on silk, hanging scroll
113.5×49.8cm
This type of Buddhist painting is displayed as the principal image of worship during the Daihannya-e ritual. In this ceremony, the six hundred volumes of the Daihannyakyō sutra are flipped through at high speed while reciting the chapter headings, a practice known as ‘tendoku’, which is regarded as equivalent to reading the entire text.
At the center is the Shaka Triad (Gautama Buddha and two attendants), flanked on both sides by the Juuroku Zenjin, Buddha’s sixteen protectors, depicted in various forms, for example as armed generals or consumed by rage. Based on the color tones and other features, this work is thought to have been created at some point during the 16th century.
