Japanese
Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi
草薙剣 (Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi)
Cuts the grass by itself and turns back fire.
WeaponFirst recorded 712
Loading artifact…
Photograph: A seated Japanese cypress statue of Fudō Myōō from the early thirteenth century. The angry-faced deity with inlaid crystal eyes sits cross-legged holding a golden sword in his right hand and a rope in his left.
Focus the photograph, then use the arrow keys to pan and the plus and minus keys to zoom. The buttons at the lower left also move it. Press a numbered button on the photograph to zoom to that note.
2,250 × 3,000 PX2250×3000
ArchiveJapanese · Weapon
Kurikara Sword
倶利伽羅剣
A sword wound by a dragon wreathed in flame. It severs delusion and evil.
- Owner
- Fudō Myōō
- Maker
- Unknown
- First record
- Esoteric Buddhist scriptures and images of Fudō Myōō800
- Gallery
- Japanese
Notes on the photograph 3
Story
Fudō Myōō, a guardian of esoteric Buddhism, sits with an angry face before flames, a sword in his right hand and a rope in his left. With the sword he cuts delusion, and with the rope he binds evil.
The Kurikara sword is drawn with a black dragon wreathed in flames winding around the blade and about to swallow its tip. The word Kurikara comes from a Sanskrit name for a dragon king.
When Kūkai brought esoteric Buddhism from Tang China in the early ninth century, devotion to Fudō Myōō spread through Japan. Even now many stone images in the shape of a sword wrapped by the Kurikara dragon stand at temples and along mountain paths in Japan.
The object in the photo
The photograph shows Fudō Myōō, the Immovable Wisdom King (Achala Vidyaraja)(Japan, early 13th century), a real museum object that evokes the legendary artifact.
More from Japanese
Japanese
JapaneseYasakani no Magatama
八尺瓊勾玉
One of the three sacred treasures, holding the spirit of the gods and the legitimacy of the imperial line.
JewelFirst recorded 712
Japanese