SteveMcCarty, 8 months ago

The Kashihara shrine (橿原神宮) area of Nara is a cradle of Japanese civilization formerly known as Yamato. I especially didn't want to miss the archaeological museum, so a couple of its treasures are included here. The shrine is dedicated to the legendary first Emperor Jimmu (神武天皇). The Buddhist temple Kumedera (久米寺) near Kashihara Jingū is a Shingon temple, but it predates the founder Kūkai. It was where Kūkai found the indecipherable Mahāvairocana Sūtra (大日経) that justified his precious voyage to Chang'an, as I alluded recently in the journal paper "Translation Issues in the Rapid Transmission of Esoteric Buddhism from India to China to Japan" at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/371965557

See more details in the photo captions.

#Japan #religion #religions #Shinto #Shintoism #Buddhism #Kukai #Nara #archaeology

@religion @histodons @mythology

Bookmark publications on Japan and Asian Studies: https://japanned.hcommons.org/japanology

At the Nara Prefectural Archaeological Museum (奈良県立橿原考古学研究所付属博物館), Haniwa terracotta figures from Kofun Period tumuli around 1,500 years ago.
A most exquisite figure that I think is an angel in the hagiography of the Buddha, found in the ruins of a Nara Period temple. No hairstyle today can match this!
The Medicine Buddha Yakushi Nyorai (薬師如来), the main object of worship at Kumedera.