THE MUKAEKÔ OF TAIMADERA: A CASE OF SALVATION RE-ENACTED
Gail Chin BRYANT
A paper dedicated to the memory of Anna Seidel (1938-1991), who questioned me about the idea of raigô in relation to her interest in the Ten Kings of Hell.
The aim of this paper is to present the pageant and background of the re- enactment of a Japanese noblewoman's salvation as presented now at Taimadera # , a monastery in Taimachô âi#W, Kitakatsuragi-gun iYMtfxM, Nara Prefecture The pageant, or ritual performance, is commonly referred to as the mukaekô or gôkô MM, the "Lecture of the Welcoming."1 It is also known as oneri kuyô eshiki -fcM^^W^, bosatsukô #HSf , raigôe 3^iffl#, and a number of other names. It honours Chûjôhime ^##[5, the donor of Taimadera's prized icon, the Original (kompon 11^) Taima Mandara #$K§£^fi (ten Grotenhuis, 1992). The donor, Chûjôhime, a mytho-historical person, was forsaken by humanity, then touched by the divine compassion of Amida Buddha and his bodhisattvas.
On the fourteenth day of May (in former times, the fourteenth day of the fourth lunar month) every year at Taimadera, a ramp can be seen along the east-west corridor, connecting the main hall (known as the Mandaradô ^s^fiJÈ ["Mandala Hall"] or Gokurakudô Hï^ jt: ["Hall of Ultimate Bliss"]), where the chief icon is hung, with a small hut called the Hall of the Defiled Land (Shabadô '^^'È.). The ramp is referred to as the "Bridge of Coming to Welcome" (Raigôhashi SCjfflM). At four o'clock in the afternoon, a crowned Amida image is placed inside the portrait
1 This paper is based upon personal observations of the mukaeko in 1984 and 1986. I wish to thank Jean Newton for proofreading this paper. All mistakes are my own.
Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie 8 (1995) : 325-334.
