Dahui Temple Great Compassion Hall: Twenty-Eight Heavenly Beings

CHINA, Beijing; Ming dynasty

The names of Dharma-protecting heavenly beings vary between scriptures and different time periods, as well as from region to region. The Twenty-Eight Heavenly Beings at Dahui Temple adopted local deities into the grouping. The figures are: Sakra, Mahoraga, Emperor Ziwei, Sajjneya, Kinnara, Mahadevi, Candra, Skanda, Marici, General Shensha, Prthivi, Yama, Brahma, Mahesvara, Agni, King Taishan, Sagara, Asura, Surya, Guhyapadavajra, Sarasvati, Hariti, Bodhidruma, Deity of the East Mountain, and the Four Heavenly Kings, which are Virudhaka, Virupaksa, Vaisravana, and Dhrtarastra. The Four Heavenly Kings are different in size compared to the other figures, which has led some scholars to believe they were originally kept in an adjoining hall dedicated to them but later moved to this hall.
Each figure differs greatly in demeanor and the way they are dressed. Virudhaka appears among those pictured as a general in full armor with alert eyes. Sarasvati is depicted as a Bodhisattva with a benign expression and has two hands joined in reverence, while the other six hands hold attributes or form mudras. The dark colored Mahoraga has a naga’s head with an open, snarling mouth, and carries snakes in his hands. He has the body of a human.