Sanjusangendo Temple: Twenty-Eight Classes of Dharma Protectors

JAPAN, Kyoto; Kamakura period

Four from this group of statues accompany the main statue of the Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara in Sanjusangendo Temple, while the other twenty-four stand guard on the array of golden standing figures about the hall. These varied and finely crafted sculptures are assigned to the 13th century Kei school. They were listed as a National Treasure in 1955.
The figures are painted with eyes inlaid with semi-precious stones, and all but five have a flaming nimbus. Narayana and Guhyapadavajra are positioned facing each other with fearsome eyes and a wrathful countenance. Their heads are topped with a single lock of hair, the bands from the knots of which spiral into the air. The stoles these two figures wear appear to fly behind them.
Gandharva, a yaksa skilled in music and feasts on scents, is depicted wearing a knotted cape and a skirt turned down round his waist. The figure supports a Dharma wheel on the right hand while the left hand forms a mudra.
Sakra, ruler of the Trayastrimsa Heaven, takes a regal stance. His hair is piled in a topknot and secured with a fillet with ribbons attached. A robe with deep sleeves covers the breastplate and he carries a cymbal in the right hand.
The Kinnara is half-bird, half-human and is known to be a dancer with a beautiful voice. The figure wears a winged cap and elaborate court garments as he beats a double-headed transverse drum with his palms. Mahoraga has a double pair of eyes and a serpent headdress. A cape is knotted round his bared shoulders as he stands with legs astride, playing the lute.
The ragged Vasu is elderly and frail. He is depicted as a skeletal hunchback wearing a headscarf. The left hand of this figure lifts a scroll and rests on the right arm, which is supported by a cane. Garuda, another half avian musician deity, puffs into a transverse flute. An ornate crown with embedded stones encircles the hair. Mahadevi, the deity of wealth, is regally attired and holds out her hand in the gesture of generosity.