Artworks

Tahōtō, Kongō Sanmaiin

Artwork · Anonymous · 1222–1224 · building · Kongō Sanmai-in Temple

A tahōtō (pagoda of many treasures) of the Kongō Sanmaiin, a precinct of Kongōbuji on Mount Kōya — the type of building that best reflects Kūkai’s influence, though his own buildings have not survived. A square first floor with a pent roof, out of which rises a truncated hemisphere coated with white plaster, a direct reference to the Indian stupa, then a round neck with a false gallery and a square shingled roof. Inside, Dainichi sits with the four transcendental Buddhas as in the lecture hall of Tōji, a heart pillar rising to the spire. The name comes from Tahō (Prabhūtaratna), one of the Seven Buddhas of the Past. 1 Mason 2005, p. 125, fig. 150. ↩ Literatur Mason 2005: Penelope E. Mason, History of Japanese Art, 2nd, Pearson Education LTD. 2005.