Skip to content

Dharma Documentaries

Dharma. Culture. Ecology.

Menu
  • Dharma
  • Culture
  • Ecology
  • Archives
  • About
Menu

Buddhist Statues in Kyoto

Posted on July 7, 2014July 7, 2014 by Dharma Documentaries
A look at some of the very best Buddhist statues and paintings from the Kyoto area in Japan, and the role they play in people's lives.

Buddhist Statues in Kyoto

For some reason it seems to be very hard to find good films about Japanese Buddhist culture, but here is one by NHK, which is entitled “Buddhist Statues, Figures of belief and beauty”.

This short documentary takes us on a tour of some of the more famous Buddhist statues in the temples around the old capital of Kyoto, and explains something of their iconography and significance.

We see the various types of Buddha statue, including different images of Sakyamuni, Amitabha, Mahavairocana and Bhaisajyaguru. There are also images of various Bodhisattvas from the Mahayana tradition, including Ksitigarbha and Avalokitesvara; and some of the protective gods like Indra and Brahma.

We also see the work of one of the master image makers of the present day Busshi Myokei Matsumoto, who has been making images for over 40 years, and who describes his work as finding the image within the stone or piece of wood he is dealing with.

In just 30 minutes we find out quite a lot about the meaning and significance of these statues culturally and for people in their everyday lives, and the film also includes overviews of Buddhist cosmology and teaching.

 

if this video is no longer available please leave a comment so I can update the page
(the comment is not published)

 

to see an album of stills click here

 

TAGS:
Culture, Japan, Mahayana, Temples

2 thoughts on “Buddhist Statues in Kyoto”

  1. Bill Walton says:
    July 9, 2014 at 12:44 am

    ….was this program shown recently on the NHK channel?….seems to me that I’ve seen it before……worth watching again though……thanks…..b.

    Reply
    1. Anandajoti says:
      July 9, 2014 at 7:25 am

      Hi Bill, on the copy posted on youtube there is no date, so I am unsure when it was produced.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please Note: Comments are Moderated before Publication

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Subscriptions

Follow our Facebook Page Follow our Tweets Subscribe to our Feed

Subscribe by Email

Email


Shortlink and QR

https://dharma-documentaries.net/b/2sb

Donations

This site has taken more than a dozen years and 1000s of hours to build, and has 800+ documentaries on it. If you would like to help, you can do so here. Even small amounts make a difference.

or Bank Transfer to:
Mr. Ng Choon Aun, Public Bank Berhad (Malaysia), Acc. No. 6352323912, Swift: PBBEMYKL

Copyright

If anyone has any copyright claims please contact me at dharmadocus@gmail.com and the posts and films will be immediately removed.

Top Ten Tags

Theravada
Mahayana
Vajrayana

India
Silk Road
China
Tibet

Arts
Lectures
Rights

Popular Posts

  • The Freedom of being a Buddhist Nun
  • Bright and Shining Mind in a Disabled Body
  • The Leshan Giant Buddha Statue
  • The Silk Road Series 7/16: Khotan-Oasis of Silk and Jade
  • David Eckel: Buddhism 3-4 of 24
  • The Tibetan Oracles
  • The Mountain Yogi, Lama Govinda
  • Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar: The Untold Truth
  • Indian Roots of Tibetan Buddhism
  • Avalokiteshvara (Chinese Movie)

Recent Posts

  • Buddha’s Lost Children
  • Zen Buddhism – In Search of Self
  • Why Has Bodhidharma Left for the East?
  • Bright and Shining Mind in a Disabled Body
  • From Myanmar to the World 2, Caves to Pagodas
  • From Myanmar to the World 1, Overland to India
  • The Rise of Dhamma
  • Lempad of Bali
  • Bagan, City of Temples (Fall of Civilizations)
  • Escape from Tibet

Random Posts

  • Life Beyond 2, The Museum of Alien Life
  • A Force More Powerful 01, India
  • Thousand Hands Guanshiyin Bodhisattva Construction
  • The Boy Who Lived Before
  • Evidence of Revision 1: The Assassination of President Kennedy
  • Land of the Thunder Dragon
  • Gravity Glue, Rock Balancing by Michael Grab
  • Flowers Rain along the Silk Road
  • The Glory of Dunhuang 5, Painted Sculptures
  • Drowning A Thousand Islands in Shan State

Related Posts

  • Belief in Kannon
  • ZEN - A Fabian Enzinger Film
  • Diary of a Nuns Abundant Kitchen
  • The 108 Lokesvaras in Nepal
  • Indian Deities Worshipped in Japan
  • Nikko, Japan (Expoza)
  • Kyoto, Japan (Expoza)
  • Kamakura (Expoza)
  • Chinese Buddhism
  • Lingyin Temple, Hangzhou, China
© 2023 Dharma Documentaries | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme