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

The subjects of these three hanging scrolls are the Mandalas of the Two Worlds and the Dragon King Kurikara (Skt. Kulika Nāgarāja) with two child acolytes. The Mandalas of the Two Worlds are comprised of the Womb World Mandala and the Diamond World Mandala. This version of the Diamond World Mandala contains 81 deities, with 61 deities in the central assembly joined by the Sixteen Bodhisattvas of the Auspicious Aeon and four Wisdom Kings. The iconographies of both mandalas follow the line drawings of a version of the Womb World Mandala enshrined on Mount Hiei (owned by Daigoji Temple) revealing they are based on iconographic lineages of the esoteric Tendai school.

The third painting depicts the Dragon King Kurikara winding around a three-pronged vajra sword with the child acolytes Kongara (Skt. Kiṃkara) and Seitaka (Skt. Ceṭaka) standing on a rock rising from the sea. The Dragon King Kurikara is an avatar of the Wisdom King Fudō (J. Fudō Myōō; Skt. Acala) and is depicted here in accordance with the Ritual Protocol for the Iconography of the Dragon King Kurikara (J. Setsu Kurika Ryūō zōhō). The dynamic flames and modulated ink lines in the attire of the two child acolytes combine to create an engaging composition.

All three of the paintings are thought to date to the 13th century during the Kamakura period (1185–1333), but the Dragon Kurikara with two child acolytes seems to have been created before the mandalas, and further research is needed to establish if these three paintings were originally made as a set. The three paintings have the same mounting, and an ink inscription on a former roller of the Womb World Mandala dated Kyōhō 6 (1721) says the works were preserved at Sefukuji Temple in Osaka. Sefukuji was historically a temple belonging to the Shingon school, but it was converted to a Tendai temple during the Kan’ei era (1624–1644) of the Edo period (1603–1868). It is not clear when the three paintings were combined as a set, but they seem to have entered Sefukuji Temple’s ownership after its conversion to the Tendai school.