960 cynthea j. bogel
self.^31 The location of Tōji inside the capital, and Takaosanji/Jingoji
just outside, was significant. As at Anguosi, there is no evidence that
the Tōji Lecture Hall was a site for esoteric abhiṣeka. Mandala divini-
ties and concepts are the only likely source for the Lecture Hall altar
arrangement. As early as the 1930s, scholars considered the Lecture
Hall to be based on texts associated with the esoteric translation of
the Benevolent Kings Sūtra and the Vajraśekhara sūtra (Diamond Peak
Sūtra).^32 Drawings and paintings imported by Kūkai provide visual
and conceptual sources for the Lecture Hall assembly—and not only
for its iconography. Rather, the making of the ritual mandala for the
Rite of the Benevolent Kings Sūtra (Ninnōkyo-hō) and the concepts
that underlie it, specifically that of the Diamond World mandala
deriving from the Diamond Peak Sūtra, are performed
in a choreography of liturgical and representational elements, in both
indirect and specific ways, by the Tōji Lecture Hall karma mandala
statues themselves. The difficulty lies in sorting out the relationships
among the visual means, contexts, and ritual texts or activities. Rather
than argue for iconographic sources, it is important to understand the
over-arching significance of the mandala concept. For the Tōji Lecture
Hall, the iconography of the Diamond World mandala seems particu-
larly strong, even if the vehicle for that iconography is in part found
within ritual text(s), in particular, the Ninnō nenju giki, the ritual text
for the Benevolent Kings Sūtra noted above. In turn, it derives from the
Diamond Peak Sūtra. An emphasis of either the Diamond or Womb
mandala in the visual culture for a hall is consistent in the earliest
Shingon esoteric halls, including those on Mt. Kōya, Takaosanji, and
Kanshinji. The concept of the karma or sculptural mandala is one of
four types of mandala given in the Mahāvairocana sūtra.
The building plan for the Lecture Hall at Tōji was created in 825;
that same year Kūkai opened the Benevolent Kings lecture (Ninnōkō
) at the palace and in various provinces.^33 The lecture was
(^31) Orzech 1996c, 375.
(^32) See Minamoto 1930, 99–114; and Ono 1934, 47–58. Recently, Matsuura Masaaki
has linked the altar program only to the Benevolent Kings Sūtra. See Matsuura 1983.
Otherwise, all scholars suggest a combination of texts. The first scholar to suggest two
textual sources for the altar was Takata 1967. Since then, all scholars except Matsuura
have concurred on two or more.
(^33) The Tōbōki and Fusōryakkishō, among other records, indicate 825 as the starting
date. “Kōdō,” Tōbōki 1, Buppō-jō, ZZGR 12: 9a–10a, quoted in NCKSS-jys 1: 60–61
(shiryō 7). One date given is Tenchō 2 (825).4.24; an alternate date is 825.4.20.