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National Treasure Gallery: Amida (Amitabha) Coming over the Mountain

Amida (Amitabha) Coming over the Mountain (detail), Kamakura period, 13th century (National Treasure, Lent by Zenrinji, Kyoto)

Japanese Gallery (Honkan) Room 2
February 13, 2019 (Wed) - March 10, 2019 (Sun)

This painting depicts the Buddha Amida within a landscape that would have felt familiar to people of the time. It is different from typical images of this Buddha featuring glorious scenes of the Pure Land, the Buddhist paradise where he resides. Meanwhile, the Sanskrit character on the top left corner represents Buddha Dainichi (Mahavairocana). This painting therefore suggests that the two deities ― the Buddha Amida and the Buddha Dainichi ― are essentially the same, and that the very world we live in is the Pure Land.

Major Work(s) on Exhibit 1 results

	Designation	Name		Creation/ Excavation/ Provenance	Period	Acquisition/ Ownership/ Accession Number	CMT
Highlight	National Treasure	Amida (Amitabha) Coming over the Mountain			Kamakura period, 13th century	Lent by Zenrinji, Kyoto

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