A history of “Sanjūsangendō”
This holy hall “Sanjūsangendō”, originally named
“Rengeōin” was founded in 1164 A.D. at the request of the Emperor
Goshirakawa, who was a pious devotee to Kannon-Bosatsu. The common name “Sanjūsangendō”
means a hall with thirty-three bays. The number “33” is derived from the belief
that Kannon-Bodhisattva(Avalokitesvara) saves all mankind by disguising into 33
different figures. The architectural plan of this Hall is based on arranging
1001 statues of Kannon-Bosatsu on the vast altar supported by 34 pillars in
front and behind. Accordingly, this building is very long: it is 118meters long
and 18meters wide. The original structure was burnt down in 1249, and another
in very same style as the original was completed in 1266 A.D. This is the
building we see today.
In the center of the hall sits
the principal image, “Jūichimen-Senju-Kannon”, or Kannon with eleven faces
and a thousand arms. And on both sides of the central image stand in regular
order a thousand images of Jūichimen-Senju-Kannon. It is the very beauty
of the numerous Kannon images that strikes the tourist as characteristic of the
grandeur of this hall. Another thirty statues stand in a row along the corridor
at the back side. Two of them are Gods of Wind and of Thunder, and the rest are
“Nijū-hachibushū”(28 spirits attending to Kannon-Bosatsu), that is,
gods or spirits in which beauty, wisdom, prosperity, relief of the poor, the
exorcism of evil devotion and soon, are deified. These 1032 statues are very
fine works, made of wood by the many sculptors under the direction of the great
masters Kōkei, Unkei and his son Tankei.
ON THE KANNON IMAGES
Here we find many Buddhist images
arranged in regular order. In the center of the hall sits a grand principal
image. Each of them is a “Jūichimen-Senju-Kannon”(Avalokitesvara), or
Kannon with eleven faces on the head and a thousand arms. However, as for their
arms, we can see only 21 of the pairs. But these 40 arms are to be regarded as
1000 arms, because each saves 25 worlds.It is believed that Kannon Bodhisattva
can transform himself into 33 different figures, so you could look upon the
total 1001 images as the appearance of 33.033
Kannons. When you think like this, you will understand that the belief
in numerousness as tenet of earnest Buddhist faith was realized concretely in
the arrangement of these images and the establishment of this hall.
The height of the central image is
3.3meters including the pedestal. It was carved by Tankei, one of the most
distinguished sculptors of the Kamakura period, at the age of 82. The other
1000 images are smaller(man sized) and simpler in appearance than the
former.The statues were made by a technique called “Yosegi-Zukuri”, that is,
first a body is composed of many partly hollow blocks of wood, carved only
roughly; secondly the detailed outside figure is carved from this body, and
thirdly, the statue is coloured or japanned, and finally plated with gold leaf.
This method was adopted because it
allows for several persons to work simultaneously on a single statue. The
resulting products are less prone to splitting and are lighter in weight than
statues carved by earlier methods.