An Edo period (17th century) hanging scroll depicting Nyorai Kojin, a deity protecting against disaster. Represented as a multi-armed, feminine deity, combines the gentle nature of Nyorai (the Buddha) and the fierce aspects of Kojin, a Shinto god (kami) associated with fire. Such imagery represents a mixture of Buddhist and Shinto beliefs. Such syncretic imagery was common in Japan before the government ordered the separation of the two religions in the 1870s. The deity holds a lotus flower in its top right hand, a multipronged Vajra in the top left. The middle arms hold a pagoda on a lotus base and a flaming jewel, while the bottom hands hold vajras, implements which represent the diamond-hard wisdom that permeates the universe. This six-armed figure seated on a lotus is precisely the same incarnation as one held in the collection of Nara’s Shoriniji Temple. Ink, color, and gold on paper, remounted in a 19th century style of pale tsumugi silk featuring dark-wood rollers (a note on back indicated restoration in Meiji 19 (1886). The scroll is 62 x 175 cm (24-1/2 x 69 inches). The paper is stained with incense smoke and toned with centuries of exposure, with fine cracks throughout attesting to its great age.
Many Esoteric deities, such as this one, have multiple heads or arms, a result of the gradual assimilation of Hindu deities into the Buddhist pantheon. Unlike the Pure Land school that teaches that a person can be saved by a simple proclamation of faith in Amida Buddha, Esoteric schools require initiation into secret rituals, chants and meditation upon mandalas (complex cosmic diagrams). Originally this painting shimmered with rich pigments and painted gold, accentuating the otherworldly aspect of the deity and heightening the visual impact of the image when meditated upon by a worshipper. Images of this deity for comparison are held in the Spencer Art Museum and Museum of Fine Arts Boston.
