tamen tahi　多面多臂

KEY WORD :　architecture / sculptures

Also *tamen kouhi 多面広臂. A Buddhist image with more heads, eyes, or limbs than a normal human figure. The extra appendages symbolize the manifold powers of the Buddha. Representative examples include: the Eleven-headed Kannon *Juuichimen Kannon 十一面観音; the Thousand-armed Kannon *Senju Kannon 千手観音; *Fukuukenjaku Kannon 不空羂索観音, who has three eyes and eight arms; *Gouzanze Myouou 降三世明王, who has eight arms, and four faces each with three eyes; and various other *myouou 明王, *Ashura 阿修羅 and tenbu 天部 (*ten 天) images. The arms of Senju Kannon represent her enormous compassion for human beings, and the faces of Juuichimen Kannon show eleven kinds of divine power to save humans from worldly desires. In fearful figures such as myouou, their many features manifest prodigious powers to conquer evil.

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