Amida joudo hensou　阿弥陀浄土変相

KEY WORD :　art history / iconography

Lit. Amida Pure Land Transformation Scene. A large scale depiction of the Pure Land Paradise, gokuraku joudo 極楽浄土 of *Amida 阿弥陀 (Sk: Amitabha/Amitayus), the Buddha of boundless light and infinite life. Based on such Amidist sutras as the DAIMURYOUJUKYOU 大無量寿経, Amida joudo mandara 阿弥陀浄土曼荼羅, Gokuraku joudo hensou 極楽浄土変相, and Saihouhen 西方変. Typically Amida appears at the center of the scene preaching, flanked on either side by the bodhisattvas *Kannon 観音 (Sk: Avalokitsvara) and *Seishi 勢至 (Sk: Mahasthamaprapta). The *Amida sanzon 阿弥陀三尊 is surrounded by a heavenly group of bodhisattvas *bosatsu 菩薩. In the foreground, several reborn bodhisattvas sit on lotuses in a jeweled pond; in the background stands a splendid palace with jeweled towers. Many variations exist, some simple, some more complex, but all emphasizing a reverence for Amida and the beauty of his paradise. A depiction of the Pure Land with numerous small pictures in the surrounding courts, based on the KANMURYOUJUKYOU 観無量寿経, is identified as a *Kangyou hensou 観経変相.

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