dou　幢

KEY WORD :　art history / sculptures

Also houdou 宝幢, tendou 天幢 or bandou 幡幢. A small, rectangular cloth banner on a pole used as a buddhist decoration, which may have streamers coming out of the sides. Some buddhist deities may carry the banner as a *jimotsu 持物 (hand-held attribute). Most commonly, Fuuten 風天, the wind spirit from the group of *juuniten 十二天 (Twelve Devas), carries a dou in his right hand. The 12c seated Fuuten from Touji 東寺 in Kyoto carries a pole with a waving banner that has four streamers attached to the bottom. Also from Touji, the image of Fuuten from the group of standing juuniten by Takuma Shouga 宅間勝賀, dated 1191, carries a banner made up of four streamers, topped with a disk and crescent. The design on the dou does not appear to be rigidly set. However, the hand-held dou often resembles the traditional banners ban 幡, that are hung on pillars inside buddhist temples.

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