Seated Amida Triad (in the Amida Hall of Ojo Gokurakuin)

A Great Welcoming Triad of Ohara

The Seated Amida Triad (in the Amida Hall of Ojo Gokurakuin) (木造阿弥陀如来及両脇侍坐像（往生極楽院阿弥陀堂安置）) is the Heian-period Amida triad enshrined in the Amida hall of Ojo Gokurakuin at Sanzenin in Ohara, Sakyo Ward, Kyoto City, which in 2002 was designated a National Treasure.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records three figures owned by Sanzenin, first designated under the old system in 1902.

According to the Agency, an inscription shows that the Seishi figure was made in 1148 with Jissho as patron.

Origins

According to the Agency, the diary Kikki shows that Gokurakuin was founded by the monk Shinnyobo, probably the Tendai Pure Land teacher Ensho, while Jissho served under the Tendai monk Gyokei. Ohara was then a centre of the yuzu nenbutsu movement, and the large welcoming triad can be understood in relation to its practice of many people gathering to chant.

All three share the same joined-block structure. The attendants use irregular joins to tilt half-life-size figures forward, a device the Agency attributes to the rarity of such statues at the time.

What to Look For

The Agency notes that welcoming Amida triads with kneeling attendants were made from the eleventh century, but most survivors are life-size or smaller; this one, with a central figure of shu-joroku size and attendants of half that size, is exceptional.

The Agency values it as a rare Jocho-style work whose date, patron and purpose are known from inscriptions, and as the only surviving welcoming triad of this size, probably linked to yuzu nenbutsu.

Visiting the Seated Amida Triad (in the Amida Hall of Ojo Gokurakuin)

The Ohara tourism association gives Sanzenin's hours as 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from March to October, 8:45 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. in November and 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. from December to February, open every day; admission is 700 yen.

Enquiries: Sanzenin, 075-744-2531.