National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

Depictions of the Pure Land of the Buddha Amida (Skt. Amitābha) were produced in large numbers after the Chinese priest Shandao (613–681) wrote the Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra on the Buddha of Infinite Life (Ch. Guan Wuliangshou jing); sometimes referred to as the Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra) during the Tang dynasty (618–907). In Japan, early paintings of Amida’s Pure Land and the famous Taima Mandala (sometimes called the “Contemplation Sutra Mandala”) are known to have been created during the Nara period (710–794). Later depictions include the Chikō Mandala, which was produced in the late Nara period based on the vision of a Buddhist priest at Gangōji Temple named Chikō (dates unknown). The mandala depicts Chikō and another priest named Raikō (dates unknown) in a simplified version of Amida’s Pure Land. Dating to the mid-Heian period (794–1185), the Seikai Mandala depicts Amida’s Pure Land as well and was created by a priest named Seikai.

In the Taima Mandala, the Pure Land is featured in the center, and pictorial bands run along the border depicting scenes from the life of King Ajātaśatru and the nine grades of rebirth in the Pure Land. T he border of the Seikai Mandala contains summaries of the sutra’s sixteen meditations inside lotus pedestals. The mandala seen here, however, has no elements along the border and is instead entirely covered by a depiction of the Pure Land. This is similar to the Chikō Mandala from the late Nara period, and it is possible these mandalas was conceptually based on earlier Pure Land paintings from the Tang dynasty. In this work, the painting is divided into sections from the top, beginning with empty space followed by jeweled pavilions, a lotus pedestal section, a jeweled pond, and music stages. Four m onks are added to the lotus pedestal section and two children are drawn on the music stages. The painting’s more complicated elements are similar to a panel painting of the Chikō Mandala at Gangōji Temple in Nara. However, rather than Amida holding his hands in prayer in the shape of an unopened lotus bud like in the Chikō Mandala, in this mandala, Amida’s hands are in the “t urning the dharma wheel” mudra, which is the same hand gesture seen in the central buddha in early Pure Land paintings from the Tang dynasty.

The artist of this work created a uniquely inviting appearance by using a warm color palette contrasted with whites and greens. The bodies are outlined in dark red, and each figure has its own distinct expression. The shading on the robes is clearly divided into sections, and the figures’ personal ornaments are rendered in striking gold and silver leaf. Together with a painting passed down at Saizen-in Temple on Mount Kōya, this is one of only a handful of Pure Land paintings mounted on hanging scrolls during the late Heian period. The mandala was preserved at Gokurakuji Temple in Nara, where it had been mislabeled a Seikai Mandala.