Mahamayuri

The elegant figure seated upon a peacock with its wings outspread may be a Myo-o (vidyaraja), but his features are those of an aristocrat of the Fujiwara clan.

In India, it was believed that peacocks could eat poisonous plants and insects and still digest them, turning them into nectar. According to the Kujaku-myo-o gazo danjo giki (Ritual manual of the painting of Mahamayuri) translated by Fuku (Amoghavajra), the Kujaku-myo-o (Mahamayuri) rides on a golden peacock, seated in a cross-legged position atop a white or blue lotus. He wears an expression of compassion and holds a lotus flower, a kuenka fruit, a pomegranate, and a peacock tail in each of his four arms. The work shown here follows this description. The Buddhist doctrines for which the Kujaku-myo-o was the principal image of worship dealt with changes in weather, praying for rain, praying for cessation of rain, safe childbirth, and recovery from illness. In Japan, these teachings were kept secret, not readily communicated beyond such holy men as the senior priests of Daigo-ji and Ninna-ji temple. In the work shown here, the artist has obtained a flesh-colored pigment by mixing vermilion in lead white, applied this thickly on both the front and reverse surfaces of the silk for the face and body, that a method of attaching gold leaf to the reverse of the silk was used for the crown and ornaments, but unfortunately there is too little left for this to be ascertained. The drapery and skirt have been rendered in cool color tones, indicating this work was produced after the beginning of the Kamakura period. (Writer : Tamon Takase Source : Selected Masterpieces from The University Art Museum, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music: Grand Opening Exhibition, The University Art Museum, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, 1999)