Cleveland Museum of Art

Taima Mandala

Date

early 1300s

Medium

hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk

Culture

Japan, Kamakura period (1185–1333)

Department

Japanese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This painting is a copy after an 8th-century woven mandala belonging to the temple Taimadera. The composition is based on a sacred text that describes the Buddha Shakyamuni’s explanation of Amida’s Pure Land to Queen Vaidehi, as well as his instructions to her on visual meditation upon the Pure Land. The Pure Land appears at the center of the painting. To the left is the story of Queen Vaidehi’s encounter with Shakyamuni, and to the right are the scenes she is given to visualize. The bottom illustrates the nine levels of birth that can be attained in the Pure Land.

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