kongourei　金剛鈴

KEY WORD :　art history / sculptures

A bell, usually of gilt bronze, rung during an Esoteric Buddhist service. Around the centre of the handle are kimoku 鬼目 (demons' eyes), and above and below the centre a lotus pattern design. Five types of kongourei, distinguished by the shape of the top of the handle, are collectively known as goshurei 五種鈴. These are the tokkorei 独鈷鈴, which has a single prong at the top of the handle, the sankorei 三鈷鈴 with three prongs, the gokorei 五鈷鈴 (five-pronged bell), houjurei 宝珠鈴 (sacred pearl bell), and tourei 塔鈴 (pagoda bell). The surface of the bell is usually undecorated, but occasionally there are designs in relief, showing Buddhist figures, symbols representing deities, or Chinese foliage scrolls. The kongourei is also found as an attribute *jimotsu 持物, held by Buddhist figures such as *Aizen Myouou 愛染明王.

REFERENCES:

*mikkyou hougu 密教法具

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