Scene inside Sundaresvara shrine, during crowning ceremony. Most of the ceremony cannot be seen by most onlookers, as this photograph reflects.; Minaksi temple, Avani Mula, 2007; view from just inside entryway to shrine; Keywords: sundaresvara, crowning
Minaksi decorated for 6th morning procession, with priest, K. Velayutha Bhattar, who supervised the decoration of Minaksi on the 6th day.; Minaksi temple, Avani Mula, 2007; Priest is K. Velayutha Bhattar; Keywords: minaksi, decoration, priests
Minaksi comes out from temple gate, 6th evening procession; Minaksi temple, Avani Mula, 2007; Keywords: minaksi, priests, processions
Siva Sundaresvara and Minaksi in procession, along South Avani Mula Street.; Minaksi temple, Avani Mula, 2007; 2nd morning procession; Keywords: sundaresvara, minaksi, processions
Minaksi on Kamadhenu vehicle, 3rd evening procession; Minaksi temple, Avani Mula, 2007; 3rd evening procession; Keywords: minaksi, vehicles, processions
All middle school students are required to participate in after -school activity clubs at the school. They are free to select which clubs they wish to join, but participation is mandatory. The clubs, of course, are group activities, an important part of education in Japan. Many of the clubs focus on areas of traditional Japanese culture, such as tea ceremony or ikebana. This photo shows the wooden swords - kendo sticks - of students belonging to the club that learns and practices the traditional art of kendo.
Rear view of deities in state, at Old Cokkanathar Temple, prior to morning procession; Minaksi temple, Avani Mula, 2007; early morning, taken at Old cokkanatha Koyil, N. Veli Street, before deities leave for Vaigai River; Keywords: deities, pavilions, devotees
Minaksi on Golden Horse vehicle, for 8th evening procession; Minaksi temple, Avani Mula, 2007; in Kalyana-mandapa, waiting for procession to begin; Keywords: minaksi, vehicles, decoration
Devotee worships Hanuman on column, in mandapa of temple complex.; Minaksi temple; column sculpture in mandapa to east of main Sundaresvara sanctum, now heavily worshiped; Keywords: deities, hanuman
Minaksi and Siva Sundaresvara in procession in Seven-color vehcile, during 11th evening procession.; Minaksi temple, Avani Mula, 2007; in South Avani Mula Street, raining; Keywords: deities, vehicles, processions
Devotional table (tirukkan) near Puttuttoppu mandapa, before procession; Minaksi temple, Avani Mula, 2007; Keywords: devotees
Saptavarna (seven-color) vehicle, used for 11th evening procession; Minaksi temple, Avani Mula, 2007; female decorates floor of vehicle with kolam design; Keywords: vehicles
Worshipers purchase butter lamps, for worship of Nine Planets; Minaksi temple; Keywords: deities, planets, devotees
Siva Sundaresvara on Golden Horse vehicle.; Minaksi temple, Avani Mula, 2007; Keywords: sundaresvara, vehicles
Each November there is a performance of a Noh play on an outdoor stage that is on the grounds of Chusonji, at Hiraizumi in Iwate Prefecture. This image is of the performance in the fall, 2000. -- The two stage props seen here are unusual in their elaborateness; noh stages are usually totally bare of props or, if there is a prop, it usually is simpler than is the case here. The several musicians used in noh , e.g., stick drummer, hand drummers, traverse flute player, are along the rear wall of the stage. Out of the photo, on the right, along the edge of the stage, are the members of the chorus who narrate the play. Noh drama, itself, in its form, in its lack of scenery, use of masks for the main actor in most plays, etc., reflects the austere suggestion, the minimalism of Ashikaga aesthetics. The brilliant robe of the shite , the main actor, reflects the addition of a decorative element, probably from the Momoyama period. The painting of the pine on the rear wall of the stage (and bamboo above the musicians' "coming in door" on the right) is a convention found on every noh stage -- it is said that the pine derives from the great pine tree at the Kasuga Shrine, Nara.
A detail photograph of the roof of the Phoenix Hall, the Hoodo, at Byodoin, Uji. It shows one of the phoenix figures, but is, mainly, a dramatic photograph...
The front of another float from the festival parade in Morioka. The large figure portrayed on the float is probably a representation of Benkei, the legendary warrior - priest retainer of Yoshitsune. Yoshitsune is one of the great underdog heroes of Japanese history. He was the brilliant young general who engineered the victory of his elder brother, Yoritomo, leader of the Minamoto clan and founding shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate. Suspecting treachery after he became shogun, Yoritomo sent an army in pursuit Yoshitsune, who escaped northward under the protection of the leader of the so-called northern branch of the Fujiwara clan, based at Hiraizumi, in southern Iwate prefecture. However, informed by the son of the elder leader of the Fujiwara, Yoritomo's forces descended upon Hiraizumi to capture Yoshitsune. At Hiraizumi, Benkei -- who was at least eight feet tall and indestructible -- single-handedly held off Yoritomo's entire army, giving Yoshitsune and his family time to commit suicide and to be burned in their home, rather than suffer the shame of capture by the forces of Yoritomo. The story of Yoshitsune and Benkei is a great theme of Japanese literature and provided, e.g., the basis for the great Noh play, Ataka, and the very popular Kabuki play, Kanjincho, based on Ataka. Hiraizumi is perhaps one half hour or so south of Morioka by train.
This image shows a detail of the exterior of the kondo at Muroji. It is front corner of the kondo, showing the veranda that runs across the front of kondo (see image 000008) and the bay at the front of the kondo, which extends along the front also, forming a worship space inside the kondo. The veranda and the front bay were added to the original structure during the Kamakura period and their addition necessitated the extension of the roof, resulting in the peculiar structure seen here.
As described in image 000058, this young boy has been brought to the Hachiman Shrine in Morioka, for the celebration of Shichigosan, Seven-five-three Day, when prayers are offered for the good fortune of girls who are seven or three years old and for boys who are five years old. This young lad, hoping that his father takes the photo quickly, because the sun in his eyes is bright, is dressed in his best formal traditional dress.
This float,a portable shrine, is from the Hachiman Shrine in Morioka. It is carried from the shrine through the streets on the shoulders of bearers as seen here and is, obviously, a heavy burden. Of secondary interest is the stone wall / embankment that is seen in the background. This is now a park, but was formerly the site of Morioka Castle, which was ordered destroyed in the Meiji era.
This is the computer classroom in a middle school in Japan. The computers are used to complete assignments from other classes, as well as for instruction in computer class, per se, so that the students are learning to employ computers across the curriculum.
Detail of the central bay of the Kanjodo at Muroji, showing part of the public portion of the hall. Included in the photo are the large vessel in which one may place a stick of lighted incense, the wooden offeratory box to the right of the incense vessel, and the container of sticks for fortunes on the right (see image ecasia000035).
The great statue of the Amida Buddha at Kamakura, cast in 1252. This image gives a good sense of the physical context in which one sees the sculpture today.
Large Sichuan family home. This image and all others identified as ecasia000072 through ecasia000278, are scans of images from the James Thorp Collection, Earlham College. An explanation and description of the collection and its origin are included in the description of image I.D. ecasia000072, the first Thorp image presented in this project collection.
Again, this is a photo of the long communal kiln at Tamba-Tachikui. This is the lower portion of the kiln, which stretches on up the hill. The larger pieces of wood stacked on the left here will be used at the beginning of the firing of the kiln, because the large pieces burn slowly, allowing a slow heat rise in the early stages of firing to dry out pots in the kiln. This side of the kiln shows stoke holes for fuel; the doors into the chambers are on the other side of the kiln. It is a tube kiln, with the axis of the arch running up the length of the kiln. The tube is segmented into chambers by walls that cut across the kiln -- essentially, like the structure of a piece of bamboo, and this style of kiln is sometimes called a "split bamboo kiln." In a smaller version, the same structure can be seen clearly in the photos of the Ichino workshop kiln, images ecasia000334 and 335.
