Hanging scroll painting of the Taima Mandala
Medium:Silk, with ink, pigment and gold
Geography: Reportedly from Taiun-in, Kyoto, Japan
Date: 1185-1333 AD
Period: Kamakura period
Dimensions:222 x 161.7 cm
Object number: 959.118
Gallery Location:
DescriptionThe Mandala of Taima-dera temple (in Katsuragi, Nara Prefecture) shows the Buddha Amida (Amitabha) with two attendant bodhisattvas and a host of other deities. The narrow row of pictures at the left, bottom and right show Buddhist stories and meditations related to the Western Paradise. The scroll is named after the most famous version of this mandala, an 8th-century woven image kept in Taima-dera.