Portraits of Rakan

 

This third post on Otagi Nembutsuji Temple in Arashiyama focuses on close-up portraits of some of the 1200 Rakan statues there.

Earlier posts looked at the temple and its history, and then at shots of the 1200 Rakan.

With Rakan, it is normal that every single figure is different, and it is said that you will not fail to find at least one that reminds you of someone you know.

The vast majority here at Otagi Nembutsuji were made by amateurs.

However, the head priest was himself a sculptor and so some instruction was certainkly given.

I did notice a certain stylistic similarity to most of the noses...

The previous two posts were on the temple and its history, and an overview of the hundreds and hundreds of statues...

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One Thousand Two Hundred Rakan

 

Rakan, or Arhats, usually come in groups of 500.

Said to be the disciples of the Buddha, many temples will have a full 500 statues, but many more will have a much smaller number.

Otagi Nembutsuji, a temple outside the main part of Arashiyama near Kyoto has an amzing 1200 of them.

Even more amazing is that they were only started to be made in 1981, part of something called the Showa Rakan Carving Project.

The head priest was a sculptor, and he encouraged visitors to the temple to carve small, simple, rakan statues.

He encouraged people to freely express themselves in the carving, and so the vast majority of the carvings are quite different from each other.

What is also surprising is how quickly moss and lichen begin to grow on the statues, thanks to Japans wet climate.

Previously I posted on the temple, its history, and the other deities and statues to be seen.

Next I will post some close-up portraits of some of the most distinctive rakan.

If you are using a computer to view this you can simply click on the "rakan" tag at the bottom of the post.

If you are using a phone, tough, because many features like that are not available....

If you would like to subscribe by email, just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published or made public. I post new content almost every day, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the last ten posts.

Otagi Nembutsuji Temple Arashiyama

 

Otagi Nembutsuji Temple is now located in a narrow valley just outside Arashiyama, usually a bit too far for most tourists to walk to.

However, it was originally located on the other side of Kyoto and was only moved here in 1922.

The original temple was founded in 766 and was built in the Higashiyama district, not too far from Gion.

It later became a Shingon temple but was completely destroyed when the Kamo River flooded.

It was restored as a Tendai temple.

It fell into disrepair and was restored several more times.

In 1922 what remained of the temple, mostly its Nio Gate, Main Hall, and Jizo Hall, were relocated to the current site.

During the War it once again became uninhabited.

Its final restoration began in 1955.

In 1980, a ten-year repair and renovation of the Niomon began.

The following year the project that has become the symbol of the temple began. The head priest, a sculptor himself, started teaching visitors how to carve Rakan statues.

Now more than 1200 have been completed and can be seen throughout the temple grounds...

They deserve a couple of posts which will come later...

If you would like to subscribe by email, just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published or made public. I post new content almost every day, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the last ten posts.