Yamagoe no Amida　山越阿弥陀

KEY WORD :　art history / iconography

Also read yamgoshi no Amida. Also Amida yamagoe (yamagoshi) raigou 阿弥陀山越来迎. Lit. Amida Coming Over the Mountain. A variant of the raigou painting *raigou-zu 来迎図 with *Amida 阿弥陀, either seated or standing, shown rising above or coming through a mountain landscape in the foreground with various attendants accompanying him. Amida's mudra is usually the *tenbourin-in 転法輪印, Amida's preaching mudra, with both hands turned outward and thumb and forefinger forming circles before the chest. This mudra (hand gesture) is associated with the upper grade: middle birth joubon chuushou 上品中生 of the *Amida kubon-in 阿弥陀九品印. The Yamagoe no Amida paintings were displayed during the nenbutsu 念仏 practice for a dying person. A fragment of the five-colored strings, which are thought to once connect a dying believer with the deity, remain on the Amida's hand. An example of such a painting is the 14c Konkaikoumyouji 金戒光明寺, Kyoto . The origin of the Yamagoe no Amida iconography is not clear. Legend says that it is derived from a vision of the Tendai 天台 monk Genshin 源信 (942-1017).

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