. the tji lecture hall statue mandala 951
During his time at Takaosanji, Kūkai planned an Abhiṣeka Hall,
which was completed during his period at Tōji, between 823 and 835.^10
Unlike most Buddhist halls in Japan, which have an odd number of
bays across to allow a ma, or space, at the center, the Abhiṣeka Hall at
Takaosanji (renamed Jingoji in 824) was an even number of
bays wide. This particular use of space and the absence of a sculptural
altar in a major worship hall were unprecedented in Japan, and were
due entirely to the character of mandalas and goma ( fire) rituals.
The dimensions of the earlier Tōdaiji Abhiṣeka Hall are not certain,
but during the Heian period it had a five-bay chancel with four aisles
(hisashi ), thus it was seven bays wide. It housed two huge nine–
fuku mandalas.^11 With Tōji designated as the first urban monas-
tery for the training of Shingon priests, officially sanctioned sites for
mikkyō rituals to protect the nation multiplied.
New halls for honoring new mikkyō divinities such as the Five Wis-
dom Buddhas or Five Myōō were introduced by Kūkai; the Five Myōō
were installed in a hall created for Takaosanji ( Jingoji). New pagoda
shapes specific to esoteric symbology, and pagodas with painted
interiors of mandalas or portraits of the patriarchs of Shingon were
also created. These icons and structures were not wholly dependent
(^10) The Jingoji Konpon Shingondō (also called the Shingondō and Kanjōdō at differ-
ent points in its history) was built under Kūkai’s direction and completed between 824
and 835. The completion date is in a record of the retired emperor Uda’s Dempokanjō
(initiation), cited in Fujii Keisuke 1988, 125. The dimensions are given in the Jingoji
jōhei jitsurokuchō, noted in Fujii Keisuke 1988, 118; 1998, 19. The hall is also described
in the Jingoji ryakki; see Itō Shirō 1992, 102. In the Heian period, the hall was called
the Konponshi shingondo (in the Jingoji jitsurokucho); see Fujii Keisuke 1988, 118.
According to the Jingoji jōhei jitsurokuchō, this “Konponshingondo” hall was six bays
wide with a hisashi on two sides (front and back) and two doors. The Jingōji ryakki
documents the use of the raidō for conferring the samaya precepts (which were typi-
cally given as initiation before an adherent entered the inner hall for higher-level
ordination practices). During the ninth century the Konpon Shingondō, without a
forehall structure, was used for rituals. Other abhisheka dansho ritual spaces, however,
are not six bays. Rather, according to convention, they have a ma at the center. At
Mount Kōya the second and smaller of two Shingondō housed Dainichi and Shitenno
statues but no paintings, so far as we know. A 904 record indicates that both a Kannon
and Jizō Bosatsu statue were enshrined at the Tōdaiji Kanjō’in, suggesting that the
hall was used until that time. The structure was lost in 1180 when the Taira torched
the monastery.
(^11) A fuku is the width of a bolt of cloth. Ninth- and tenth-century (early Heian)
paintings generally used raw silk made on looms, producing cloth about 1.80 shaku
(54.5 cm) wide; by the late Heian period this changed to 1.61 (48.7 cm) and to 1.54
shaku (46.7 cm). The Shingon’in in the palace and the Tōji Abhiṣeka Hall also each
had a five-bay chancel plan.