Cleveland Museum of Art

Cinerary Urn with Amida's Pure Land

Date

800s-900s

Medium

gilt bronze

Culture

Japan, Heian period (794–1185)

Department

Japanese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This urn once held someone’s ashes. It is decorated with images of the Pure Land of Amida, the Buddha of Infinite Life and Light. Heian-period devotees of Amida believed that if they called upon his name with sincerity at the moment of death, they would be born into his Pure Land, also known as the Western Paradise, and thereby escape the pattern of reincarnation. As shown on the lid of the urn, in the Pure Land, musical instruments float about playing by themselves. Its palatial structures and magnificent lotus pond are described on the body of the urn.

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