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

The Wisdom King Aizen (Skt. Rāgarāja) is depicted here in a wrathful form with six arms, three eyes, and fangs. Aizen is an esoteric Buddhist deity who teaches that earthly desires are in themselves a path to enlightenment and who can transform lust and greed into a desire for enlightenment (Skt. bodhicitta).

The colophon of a sutra deposited in the statue and an inscription in gold on the bottom of the pedestal tell of the sculpture’s origins. They say the priest Jakuchō (dates unknown), a leading disciple of Eison (1201–1290), the father of Saidaiji Temple’s restoration, finished copying an esoteric Buddhist text known as the Sutra on All Yogas and Yogins of the Diamond Peak Pavilion (Ch. Jin’gang feng louge yiqie yujia yuqi jing) to be deposited in the statue at Kedai-in Temple in Higashi-Odawara, Sōra District, Yamashiro Province (now part of Kyoto Prefecture) on the last day of the first month of Kenchō 8 (February 27, 1256 [Julian calendar]). The statue was carved between the 12th day of the 3rd month and the 1st day of the 4th month of the same year. The master Buddhist sculptor was Kaijō (dates unknown), and the assistant sculptors were Kaison (dates unknown) and Kaiben (dates unknown).

The inscription on the pedestal reveals the statue was sculpted from “a pillar that had been replaced at the front of Tōdaiji Temple’s Great Buddha Hall.” In the 12th month of Jishō 4 (January 1181), the Great Buddha Hall, which had been built at the behest of Emperor Shōmu (701–756; r. 724–749), was burned down by soldiers under the command of Taira no Shigehira (1157–1185). It was rebuilt in Kenkyū 6 (1195), and it seems a pillar that had been replaced was used to make the statue. A close examination shows there are cracks in the base platform that have been covered in cloth for reinforcement. This suggests a pillar that had been damaged in the fire was likely repurposed despite its flaws. Perhaps this was thought to increase the sacred nature of the material.

Also of note, a statue of the bodhisattva Jizō (Skt. Kṣitigarbha) at Shunkakuji Temple in Murō Village, Uda City, Nara Prefecture, was created around the same time using old materials from Tōdaiji Temple’s Great Buddha Hall.