Seiryoji Temple: Amitabha Buddha Triad

JAPAN, Kyoto; Heian period

These three statues were commissioned for Minamoto no Toru, grandson of Emperor Saga (reigned 809–823) on his deathbed in the hope that he would be reborn in the Pure Land according to the Kanke Bunso. They were completed on the first anniversary of his death. The head, body, and trunk have been hollowed while the exterior is coated with lacquer and gold foil. They are now placed in the Tokyo National Musuem and listed as a National Treasures in 1991.
Amitabha Buddha is located in the center, accompanied by Mahasthamaprapta, on the left, and Avalokitesvara on the right. The Buddha is dressed in monastic robes and forms the highest grade of the highest class mudra. The Buddha’s aureole, nimbus, and enclosing mandorla are filled with hundreds of miniature Buddhas and thirteen larger manifestations, an iconographical feature usually found behind statues of Vairocana. The two Bodhisattvas are almost identical apart from their mudras. They sit in the half lotus position, wearing stoles and jewelry. A circular nimbus frames their crowned heads. All three figures have three lines on their necks that signify a great person.