I could almost see myself converting to Buddhism just for the cute statues. Well, most of them are fierce like this guy at the gate of Ninnaji:
But gardens tend to be littered with cute ones here and there, like this one from Tofukuji:
And these ones from Sanzenin in Ohara:
These ones are actually from Fukuoka, on the roof of the new Hakata Station, which has a Shinto shrine dedicated to the railway. I took the photo up there while we were waiting for our bus to Kyoto:
Our Kyoto trip continues in the next post.Related Posts:
- Kyoto the Trip! Part 1 - Tofukuji and Sanjusangendo
- Kyoto the Trip! Part 2 - Kiyomizu Temple and Maruyama Koen
- Kyoto the Trip! Part 3 - Ryoanji and Ninnaji
- Kyoto the Trip! Part 4 - Shopping Arcades by Night
- Kyoto the Trip! Part 5 - Antiquing Kyoto Style
- Kyoto the Trip! Part 7 - Ohara and the Wrath of Mount Hiei
- Kyoto the Trip! Part 8 - Kyoto Station vs. Kyoto Tower
3 comments:
I especially like the one from Tofukuji :)
Is there a reason for their cuteness, by the way? What I mean is, were these cute Buddhas supposed to be or represent anything different than their more terrifying counterparts?
Yeah, I think so. The big fierce ones are guardian deities which are meant to protect the temples.
The little ones...well, I'm not sure exactly what they are but they definitely serve a different function from that! Japan is littered with "Jizo", little statues that are sometimes cute and represent spirits. These ones look a bit different from those though.
Very interesting! Thanks for the explanation :)
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