Virtual Adachi Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage (the South) #3 Motobuto-Kannon-do Hall

 

     It is unknown when Zuigan-ji Temple was founded in Motobuto Village, Adachi County, Musashi Province.  Its precincts had a Kannon-do hall. The temple was abolished after the Meiji Restoration, with its Kannon-do hall left. 

     The hall has a wooden seated statue of Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses.  The statue is 65.7 centimeters tall in total and 31.1 centimeters wide from knee to knee.  Its hands and fingers gesture dhyana mudra.  The body is seated on the lotus base with the hem of its Buddhist robe hanging long in front of the pedestal.  It is made with a wooden mosaic and has jade eyes.  The statue is thought to have been made during the Southern and Northern Courts Period, but its halo and some features are thought to have been added later in the Edo Period.  Its pedestal seems to have been another statue's.  This type of statue is a typical example of late Tang-style sculpture produced in large numbers in the Kanto Region, especially around Kamakura, from the Northern and Southern Courts Period to the Muromachi Period.  The head of the statue is rather small, its body is long, and the bottom of the statue is not carved. The statue can be said to be a masterpiece of the hanging-robe-style in those days.

Address: 2 Chome-23-5 Motobuto, Urawa Ward, Saitama, 330-0052