Ink Painting on Paper of a Goma Altar and the 37 Sammaya

The Ink Drawing of the Goma Altar and the Thirty-Seven Deities in Their Samaya Forms (Attributed to Master Chishō): A Window into Heian-Era Esoteric Buddhism

Among the cultural treasures preserved in Osaka Prefecture is a remarkable Important Cultural Property whose full name in Japanese is "Shihon Bokuga Gomadan-yō narabini Sanjūshichison Sammayagyō (Den-Chishō Daishi-bon)" — a paper drawing in black ink that depicts both the layout of a Buddhist fire-ritual altar and the thirty-seven principal deities of the Diamond Realm Mandala rendered as their symbolic emblems. Traditionally regarded as a transmission from the great pilgrim-monk Chishō Daishi Enchin (814–891), this scroll offers visitors a rare glimpse into the visual language of Japanese Esoteric Buddhism (Mikkyō) and the cross-cultural exchange that brought Chinese ritual practice to the Japanese archipelago.

A Sacred Diagram Bridging Tang China and Heian Japan

To understand this drawing, it helps to know the man whose name it bears. Enchin, posthumously honored as Chishō Daishi (literally "Great Master of Wisdom and Realization"), was one of the most influential Buddhist figures of the early Heian period. Born in Sanuki Province (present-day Kagawa Prefecture), he climbed Mount Hiei at the age of fifteen to study under Gishin, the first abbot of the Tendai school. In 853, at the age of forty, he set sail for Tang-dynasty China, where he spent six years travelling the holy mountains, copying scriptures, and receiving initiation into the deepest secrets of Esoteric Buddhism at the Qinglong Temple in the imperial capital Chang'an.

When Enchin returned to Japan in 858, he carried with him over a thousand scrolls of texts, ritual manuals, mandalas, and iconographic drawings — a treasure trove that would shape Japanese Esoteric Buddhism for centuries. He went on to become the fifth abbot of Enryaku-ji and the founder of the Tendai Jimon school, with Onjō-ji (Mii-dera) as his base. Drawings such as the one designated here were copied and recopied by his disciples and their successors as essential tools of transmission, and the phrase "Den-Chishō Daishi-bon" — meaning "by tradition, a copy of Master Chishō's original" — places this work firmly within that lineage of sacred knowledge.

What the Drawing Depicts: The Goma Altar and the Thirty-Seven Deities

The work is executed entirely in black ink on paper (shihon bokuga), without colour, in a style known as hakubyō or "white drawing." This restrained technique was preferred for ritual diagrams because clarity of line was more important than visual splendour: the drawing was a working document, used by priests preparing to perform a ceremony.

Why This Work Matters: Its Cultural and Religious Significance

Several qualities place this drawing among Japan's nationally important cultural assets.

First, it is a primary historical document in the transmission of Esoteric Buddhism from China to Japan. Few works on paper survive from this lineage in their early form; the very fact that this drawing has been carefully preserved across more than a millennium speaks to the reverence in which it was held. Second, it preserves an unusually complete iconographic programme: the combination of altar plan and full thirty-seven-deity samaya cycle in a single composition is rare, and scholars consult such diagrams to understand how Heian-period priests actually conducted the goma rite. Third, it embodies the artistic refinement of Tang-influenced Buddhist drawing — confident, sparing brushwork that reveals the high level of technical training in Enchin's circle. Finally, the drawing carries an unbroken transmission history that allows it to serve as a touchstone for authenticating other works in the same tradition.

Highlights for the Discerning Viewer

For visitors fortunate enough to see this work on display, several aspects reward careful attention. The brushwork itself is one pleasure: the lines are spare and decisive, with very little correction, suggesting the hand of a practitioner thoroughly familiar with the iconography. The arrangement of the thirty-seven samaya is another. They are not placed at random but follow a strict mandalic geometry that mirrors the spiritual hierarchy of the Diamond Realm, with the central group radiating outwards through encircling rings of guardians and offering-deities. Reading the diagram is, in a sense, reading a map of the universe as Esoteric Buddhism understood it.

The relationship between altar and deities is also worth contemplating. The drawing makes visible something that, in the actual ritual, is only imagined: the descent of the deities onto the altar, called there by the priest's gestures, mantras, and inner visualisation. To stand before this scroll is to glimpse the secret architecture of a Heian-period ceremony.

Visiting the Region: Osaka's Esoteric Buddhist Heritage

While works of this delicacy are typically kept in protected storage and shown only on special occasions, the southern part of Osaka Prefecture — particularly the city of Kawachinagano — is one of the country's richest landscapes for encountering the world from which the drawing emerged.