Below are some photos I took of a small Buddhist temple in a quiet neighborhood in Otawara, Tochigi-ken during my recent visit to Japan. I thought this temple was somewhat unique because of there were many small statues throughout the garden in front of the temple that I had not seen in some of the other temples I've visited.
I'm not sure who this person is. If anyone has an idea, please let me know.
Although I am familiar with Buddhism, the figures in the statues below are not familiar to me. Anyone know who this deity is? I assume it is a Buddhist deity such as a Bodhisattva and it appears to be female but I am not certain.
Either this is a three headed deity or three separate deities or figures standing close together.
I would have taken more photos at this temple but I had my two boys with me and it was almost dinner time. I will try and take more photos here during my next visit probably in August.
Here is the exact location of the temple on the map below (36.863202, 140.02458). If you zoom in, you can see the name of the temple. If someone can tell me the name of the temple, that would be great.
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Hmm... I've seen that 3 headed one before. I think I posted it to my blog once. I probably have who it is in one of my many Buddhism books.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, thanks for sharing. I always enjoy seeing temples.
Thanks for visiting David. I've probably come across the figures in my Buddhist readings as well but just don't recall.
ReplyDeleteIt's apparently Futaiji (不退寺), though a quick cursory Google search reveals no particularly good webpages about the place.
ReplyDeleteThx toranosuke. It's a very small neighborhood temple so I'm not surprised about the lack of info.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason my eyes quickly gravitated to the 大田原城 on the map, to the N/E of the temple. Have you visited the castle ruins before?
ReplyDeleteIt seems it was in use throughout the Edo period but all that remains is an earthen embankment.
...Haha. a google search reveals you gave the castle a mention some years ago. And, there is precious little other info in English.
I really do have a one-track mind.
Any luck with the figures?
ReplyDeleteI have not yet visited it Daniel. I actually forgot about it until you mentioned it. Not certain what is really at the site but I will want to try and visit if I can next time.
ReplyDeleteNo luck yet on the Buddhist figures. I haven't had a chance to check my various Buddhist books.
The statue with the hand to the face that's Miroku Bosatsu, the next one looks like a strange Ashura, but probably it's something else.
ReplyDelete~ Anna
Thank you Anna.
ReplyDelete