Five Buddhist avatars descending over the Kasuga Shrine

This work is a votive painting of the Kasuga Shrine, a tutelary shrine of the Fujiwaras, a powerful court family. In the painting the Shinto gods of the shrine are depicted in their Buddhist forms. Against the blue night sky they descend to the precincts of the shrine, which are suggested by the Shinto gate (torii), deer, and pine trees in the lower section of the mandala, and by Mount Mikasa under a full moon at the top.
In the sixth century, Buddhism, which had originated in India, was transmitted to Japan from China and Korea. The Japanese were thus compelled to develop a theory to explain the relationship between this foreign religion and their ancient Shinto beliefs. The theory of Buddhist-Shinto unification (honji suijaku) explained that the Shinto deities' original forms were Buddhist (honji); therefore, believing in both did not create a conflict.