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are two wrathful and muscular guardians of the Buddha standing today at the entrance of many Buddhist temples in East Asian Buddhism in the form of frightening wrestler-like statues. They are dharmapala manifestations of the bodhisattva Vajrapāṇi, the oldest and most powerful of the Mahayana Buddhist pantheon. According to scriptures like the Pāli Canon as well as the Ambaṭṭha Sutta, they travelled with Gautama Buddha to protect him. Within the generally pacifist tradition of Buddhism, stories of dharmapalas justified the use of physical force to protect cherished values and beliefs against evil. They are also seen as a manifestation of Mahasthamaprapta, the bodhisattva of power that flanks Amitābha in Pure Land Buddhism and as Vajrasattva in Tibetan Buddhism. They are usually portrayed as a pair of figures that stand guarding temple entrance gates usually called Shānmén (山門) in China, Niōmon in Japan and Geumgangmun (金剛門) in Korea. The right statue is traditionally called Guhyapāda and has his mouth open, representing the vocalization of the first grapheme of Sanskrit Devanāgarī (अ) which is pronounced "a". The left statue is traditionally called Nārāyaṇa and has his mouth closed, representing the vocalization of the last grapheme of Devanāgarī (ह ɦ) which is pronounced "" (हूँ). These two characters together (a-hūṃ/a-un) symbolize the birth and death of all things. (Men are supposedly born speaking the "a" sound with mouths open and die speaking an "" and mouths closed.) Similar to Jaya-Vijaya, they signify "everything" or "all creation". The contraction of both is Aum (ॐ). Guhyapāda (Traditional Chinese: 密迹金剛; simplified Chinese: 密迹金刚; pinyin: Mìjī jīngāng; Japanese: Misshaku Kongō; Korean: Miljeok geumgang; Vietnamese: Mật tích kim cương ) is a symbol of overt violence: he wields a vajra mallet "" (a diamond club, thunderbolt stick, or sun symbol) and bares his teeth. His mouth is depicted as being in the shape necessary to form the "ha" or "ah" sound. In China, he is also known as General Ha (哈将 Hā Jiāng) in reference to this iconographic detail.

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Related concepts (9)

Buddhist art

Buddhist art is visual art produced in the context of Buddhism. It includes depictions of Gautama Buddha and other Buddhas and bodhisattvas, notable Buddhist figures both historical and mythical, narrative scenes from their lives, mandalas, and physical objects associated with Buddhist practice, such as vajras, bells, stupas and Buddhist temple architecture. Buddhist art originated in the north of the Indian subcontinent, in modern India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, with the earliest survivals dating from a few centuries after the historical life of Siddhartha Gautama from the 6th to 5th century BCE.

Kaikei

Kaikei was a Japanese Busshi (sculptor of Buddha statue) of Kamakura period, known alongside Unkei. Because many busshi of the school have a name including kei (慶), his school is called Kei-ha (Kei school). Kaikei being also called Annami-dabutsu, his style is called Anna-miyō (Anna style) and is known to be intelligent, pictorial and delicate. Most of his works have a height of about three shaku, and there are many of his works in existence. Amitabha Triad in Jōdo-ji in Ono (1195) - National Treasure of Japan.

Unkei

Unkei (運慶; 1150 – 1223) was a Japanese sculptor of the Kei school, which flourished in the Kamakura period. He specialized in statues of the Buddha and other important Buddhist figures. Unkei's early works are fairly traditional, similar in style to pieces by his father, Kōkei. However, the sculptures he produced for the Tōdai-ji in Nara show a flair for realism different from anything Japan had seen before. Today, Unkei is the best known of the Kei artists, and many art historians consider him its "most distinguished member".