Small wooden carved statues of the Acala at Daisho-in Temple, Miyajima

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Fudō-myōō (不動明王?) is the full Japanese name for Acala, or Fudō (o-Fudō-sama etc.) for short. It is the literal translation of Sanskrit name which means "immovable". Iconography Acala in Buddhist art since the Heian era has depicted him as angry-faced, holding a vajra sword and a lariat. In later representations, such as those used by the yamabushi monks, he may have one fang pointing up and another pointing down, and a braid on the one side of his head. The sword he holds may or may not be flaming and sometimes described only generically as a hōken (宝剣 "treasure sword"?) or as kongō-ken (金剛杵 "vajra sword"?), which is descriptive of the fact that the pommel of the sword is in the shape of the talon-like kongō-sho (金剛杵 "vajra"?) of one type or another. It may also be referred to as sanko-ken (三鈷剣 "three-pronged vajra sword"?).

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Size: 4976px × 2800px
Location: 210 Miyajima-cho, Hatsukaichi-shi, Hiroshima-ken, 739-0592, Japan
Photo credit: © Moonie's World / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

Keywords: acala, buddha, buddhism, buddhist, carving, daishoin, deity, fudo-myoo, fudō-ō, hiroshima, japan, japanese, king, misen, miyajima, mount, place, religion, shingon, statue, temple, vajrayana, wisdom, wood, wooden, worship