"Fighting Buddha Statues" (Seikado @ Marunouchi) Opening Report: Forms of Prayer Seen Amidst Valour
The "Fighting Buddha Statues" exhibition at Seikado @ Marunouchi showcases the diverse forms of wrathful Buddhist figures, centered on the Twelve Heavenly Generals.Summary
The "Fighting Buddha Statues" exhibition, currently held at the Seikado Bunko Art Museum (Seikado @ Marunouchi) in Tokyo, focuses on the diverse appearances of wrathful Buddhist figures, centered around the Important Cultural Property, the "Twelve Heavenly Generals Statues" (formerly from Jōruri-ji Temple). The exhibition is structured in three chapters, introducing wrathful images found in both sculpture and painting. The first chapter highlights various forms of these figures in paintings, particularly focusing on Bishamon-ten (Vaiśravaṇa), who is widely worshipped as a solitary deity capable of resolving difficulties, as depicted in works like the "Esoteric Illustrations of the Lotus Sutra" from the Song dynasty. This section also examines attendant figures and guardians of the underworld, such as the Twenty-Eight Attendants of the Thousand-Armed Kannon, whose fiercely armed forms contrast with the serene main deity.
(Source：美術手帖)