The Taima Mandala

Unknown artist

Kamakura period, 14th century

Color on silk

Tokyo National Museum

A complex Buddhist mandala painting on silk depicts a central seated Buddha figure surrounded by numerous smaller figures, architectural elements, and celestial motifs. Depicted here is the paradise of the Buddha Amida. Followers of this Buddha are reborn here after death and guaranteed spiritual enlightenment. Mandalas are visual depictions of the Buddhist pantheon. A particularly famous woven mandala, called the Taima Mandala, has been passed down for centuries at Taima-dera Temple in Nara Prefecture. Allegedly created in the 8th century, the Taima Mandala is designated as a National Treasure. The mandala depicts the Pure Land, the paradise of the buddha Amida, as described in a sacred Buddhist text called a sutra, and also portrays an episode from the same sutra. The school of Pure Land Buddhism