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Kichijouten, Kichijoten, Kisshouten, Kudokuten
Sanskrit: Sri-mahadevi, Mahasri, Laksmi
Goddess of Beauty and Prosperity
Origin: Hindu Mythology
Last Update: Feb. 6, 2006
Added Kudokuten, Mahasri
Wife of Vishnu in Hindu myths; wife or sister of Bishamonten in Buddhist myths. In Japan she is the goddess of fortune, luck, beauty, and merit; among some Japanese sects she was the central devotional deity, given individual status as an object of Buddhist worship, but since the 15th/16th century, her imagery and attributes have been largely supplanted by the Goddess Benzaiten. Among existing sculpture and artwork, she is sometimes shown wearing a tiara containing an image of the Phoenix. (Editor's Note: must still confirm this Phoenix entry)
Kichijouten, Kamakura Era, Wood
Treasure of Joryuri-ji Temple in Kyoto
Plump body and mature face said to
embody the ideal feminine beauty of old China.
Left hand holds Wish-Granting Jewel
(Jp. = Houjyu 宝珠; Sanskrit = cintamani)
Photo courtesy of "Hidden Buddha of Japan"
ISBN4-582-63395-1
Mantra for Kichijouten in Japan
Sanskrit Seed Sound -- SRI
Kichijouten (Mahasri), 1078 AD, Heian Era
Wood with pigments, 116 cm, Treasure of Houryuuji Temple
Left hand holds Wish-Granting Jewel (Jp. = Houjyu 宝珠)
Photo courtesy of temple exhibition catalog
Kichijouten, Painting, Nara Period, 8th Century
Designated National Treasure
Treasure of Yakushiji Temple
Photo courtesy of the Tokyo National Museum
Note of Confusion. The Tokyo National Museum dates
this painting to the Nara Period, but the Yakushiji
Temple dates it to the Heian period. The temple claims
it is the oldest surviving color painting in Japan.
ABOUT THE ABOVE PHOTO
Below Text Courtesy of the Tokyo National Museum
A rare and most magnificent Buddhist painting of the Tempyo Era (710-794), will be specially exhibited at the Tokyo National Museum (in August 2004) to commemorate the establishment of the Tokyo Branch of Yakushiji, one of the "Six Important Temples" (Rokudaiji) of Nara. Originally, Kichijoten was imported into Buddhism from Hinduism, being known as Laksmi, the goddess of beauty and prosperity. This painting is likely to have been the central worshipping piece, if not its important element, of Japanese Buddhist rituals during the Nara period (701-794). She has crescent-shaped eyebrows with full cheeks, and moves leisurely and gracefully in a striking multi-layered attire, like a Chinese beauty of the Tang dynasty, China (618-907). Yet a sacred gem on her left hand and her transparent shawl fluttering gently in the wind as she walks suggests her heavenly nature. Its renderings are not only delicate and elegant, but also infused with a stately Buddhist serenity of its own, and the painting radiates a special charm. Paintings dating back to the Nara period are a rarity even in Japan. Invaluable as a Buddhist painting, its opulent and noble spells are delightful to the eye indeed.
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KICHIJOUTEN
Skt: Sri Laksmi, Mahasri, Mahadevi
Below text courtesy of JAANUS
You'll need a Japanese font on your PC to read below kanji.
Also read Kisshouten. Also called Kichijoutennyo 吉祥天女 or Kudokuten 功徳天. Originally an Indian (Brahman) goddess of fertility, wealth, and beauty, who was linked to Kubera (aka Tamonten), the Hindu god of the North, and Vishnu the Lord of Creation. As Vishnu's chief consort, Kichijouten was absorbed later into popular Buddhism in China and Japan. In the KONKOUMYOU SAISHOUOUKYOU 金光明最勝王経, "The Sutra of the Sovereign Kings of the Golden light", she is associated with wealth and virtue. Japanese belief in Kichijouten was widespread in the Nara period (8c), and her images , such as the sculptures at Toudaiji 東大寺 (746), Saidaiji 西大寺, Houryuuji 法隆寺 (748), and the painted portrait at Yakushiji 薬師寺 (ca.771), were worshipped as a principal image at the kisshou keka 吉祥悔過, or New Year's ceremony for welcoming good luck and sweeping out bad. In the Matrix Mandala, Taizoukai mandara 胎蔵界曼荼羅, Kichijouten appears as an attendant of Senju Kannon 千手観音, and the DARANI SHUUKYOU 陀羅尼集経 Sutra describes a Kichijouten mandara 吉祥天曼荼羅 which was used in an Esoteric Buddhist ritual to promote earthly happiness and welfare. Kichijouten is usually represented as a beautiful Tang-period court lady, wearing a richly embroidered gown and an elaborately jewelled head-dress. She is distinguished from Benzaiten 弁財天, with whom she is often confused, by the "wish-granting" jewel (nyoi houju 如意宝珠） held in her left hand, and the lotus in her right. She also makes the gesture (mudra) of charity (segan-in 施願印) with her palm open and facing downwards. The 12c sculpture at Joururiji 浄瑠璃寺, Kyoto, is typical of this latter type. Kichijouten was occasionally regarded as a sister of Kariteimo 訶梨帝母, the wife of Bishamonten 毘沙門天, and the mother of Zennishi Douji 善膩師童子, and was represented together with the latter two deities. <end JAANUS quote >
Mahasri, Mahāśrī, Kudokuten
摩訶室利, 功德天女, 吉祥天女, 功德天
Below text from Soothill's Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms:
Identified with Laksmi, name of the goddess of fortune and beauty frequently in the later mythology identified with Śrī and regarded as the wife of Visnu or Narayana, she sprang from the ocean with a lotus in her hand, whence she is also called Padmā, and is connected in other ways with the lotus. < M. W. De Visser > There is some confusion between this goddess and Guanyin, possibly through the attribution of Hindu ideas of Laksmi to Guanyin. <end Soothill quote>
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Kichijouten - Modern Wooden Statue
Left hand holds Wish-Granting Jewel (Jp. = Houjyu 宝珠)
Photo courtesy this Japanese site
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