重要文化財 木造不動明王像並びに両童子像 公式英語文(境内看板) 書き起こし

【重要文化財 木造不動明王像並びに両童子像 公式英語文 書き起こし】

Fudo Myo-o and Two Attendants of Takahata Fudoson Kongo-ji Temple

Kongo-ji is an old temple of Shingon Sect Buddhism in Hino-city, Tokyo and is popularly known as Takahata Fudo. The sculptural images of Fudo Myo-o (Acalanatha) and two attendants enshrined in the temple’s Fudo-do Hall drew attention of scholars in recent years as one of the few large-scale examples of Fudo triad dating from the late Heian period, and were registered as Important Cultural Property in 1994 by the Japanese government. Because the statues were severely damaged, they were disassembled for repair work which began in 1997 and finished in 2000. We are fortunate to put the figures, which have been much improved in appearance, on view here at the Tokyo National Museum with the kind understanding of the temple.

According to inscriptions on wooden tablets installed in the Fudo and on their mandorla, the three statues were damaged in the Nanbokucho period and an extensive conservation work was carried out. Because of this repair work they somewhat lack balance now, but the magnanimous modeling well conveys the original atmosphere they had. In the late Heian period many large statues of Buddhist divinities were produced. This triad is one of the few surviving works which give us an idea of those grand images.

At the completion of the repair work in the Nanbokucho period, numerous pages of documents with woodblock printed figures of Fudo Myo-o and Daikoku-ten (Mahakala) were installed inside the Fudo. At the time of recent repair work, a grain of sarira(sacred ash) was found from a sacred jewel on the top of the mandorla, which was also made at the time of the Nanbokucho period repair. They are both important materials to understand the Buddhist faith at that time.