Mandala of Kasuga Shrine and Kofuku-ji Temple

This mandala depicts the Kasuga shrine grounds in the upper section and the Kohfuku-ji temple precincts in the lower section. This blend of Shinto and Buddhist elements derives from suijaku syncretic beliefs unique to Japan. Mt. Mikasa is placed at the very top of the composition, with both Kasuga shrine and Kohfuku-ji temple shown as if the viewer were looking from the west to the east. There are two types of Mandala of Kasuga shrine and Kohfuku-ji temple, those, as here, which depict Kohfuku-ji temple precincts as the symbol of that Buddhist temple, and those that depict only the enshrined Buddhist deities rather than the buildings. This work is important as the oldest extant example of the former type. This is the only mandala that depicts the Rakumon gate of the east-west corridor of the Chukondo hall of Kohfuku-ji temple, a structure recently confirmed by excavations on the site. Unlike many suijaku mandalas that include images of the Buddhist tutelary deities of the Kasuga shrine, this mandala depicts no deity images, and is an example of the depiction of the sacred grounds of the Kasuga shrine and Kohfuku-ji temple as examples of paradise on earth.