Taima Mandala
Encyclopedia
The Taima Mandala is a mandala
in Japanese Pure Land
Buddhism. The original copy of the mandala is still housed in the Taima-dera
temple in Nara
, Japan, and was woven approximately around 763
. The mandala is appointed as a national treasure of Japan
on April 27, 1961. Many copies have been made since, and the original work has degraded considerably. According to popular legend, Chūjō-hime
witnessed the creation of the mandala, crafted from fibers of lotus stems by two nuns who were thought to be Amida
Buddha and Kannon Bodhisattva. The imagery of the Mandala is based mostly on the Sutra of the Contemplation of Amitayus
観無量寿経, and has been the subject of several doctrinal commentaries in Japanese Buddhism.
The central image is the Pure Land
itself, while on the margins there are images related to different sections of the Contemplation Sutra.
Mandala
Maṇḍala is a Sanskrit word that means "circle". In the Buddhist and Hindu religious traditions their sacred art often takes a mandala form. The basic form of most Hindu and Buddhist mandalas is a square with four gates containing a circle with a center point...
in Japanese Pure Land
Pure land
A pure land, in Mahayana Buddhism, is the celestial realm or pure abode of a Buddha or Bodhisattva. The various traditions that focus on Pure Lands have been given the nomenclature Pure Land Buddhism. Pure lands are also evident in the literature and traditions of Taoism and Bön.The notion of 'pure...
Buddhism. The original copy of the mandala is still housed in the Taima-dera
Taima-dera
Taima-dera is a Buddhist temple in Nara, Japan built originally in 612 by the Imperial Prince Maroko, the brother of Prince Shotoku. The temple was moved to its present location in 681 by the grandson of Prince Maroko, and serves as the head temple, or honzan of the now-defunct Hosso sect...
temple in Nara
Nara, Nara
is the capital city of Nara Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. The city occupies the northern part of Nara Prefecture, directly bordering Kyoto Prefecture...
, Japan, and was woven approximately around 763
763
Year 763 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 763 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* Ciniod succeeds Bridei V as king of the...
. The mandala is appointed as a national treasure of Japan
National treasures of Japan
National Treasures are the most precious of Japan's Tangible Cultural Properties, as determined and designated by the Agency for Cultural Affairs...
on April 27, 1961. Many copies have been made since, and the original work has degraded considerably. According to popular legend, Chūjō-hime
Chujo-hime
was by most accounts a daughter of the court noble Fujiwara no Toyonari who escaped persecution at the hands of her stepmother by becoming a nun at the Taima-dera in Nara. There she took on the name Zenshin-ni or the Dharma name Honyo...
witnessed the creation of the mandala, crafted from fibers of lotus stems by two nuns who were thought to be Amida
Amitabha
Amitābha is a celestial buddha described in the scriptures of the Mahāyāna school of Buddhism...
Buddha and Kannon Bodhisattva. The imagery of the Mandala is based mostly on the Sutra of the Contemplation of Amitayus
Contemplation Sutra
The Amitāyurdhyāna Sūtra , is one of the three major Buddhist sūtras found within the Pure Land branch of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Amitāyus is another name for the buddha Amitābha, the preeminent figure in Pure Land Buddhism, and this sūtra focuses mainly on meditations involving complex visualization...
観無量寿経, and has been the subject of several doctrinal commentaries in Japanese Buddhism.
The central image is the Pure Land
Pure land
A pure land, in Mahayana Buddhism, is the celestial realm or pure abode of a Buddha or Bodhisattva. The various traditions that focus on Pure Lands have been given the nomenclature Pure Land Buddhism. Pure lands are also evident in the literature and traditions of Taoism and Bön.The notion of 'pure...
itself, while on the margins there are images related to different sections of the Contemplation Sutra.