LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Kannon: Western Japan
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The ÅŒfuna Kannon or Muga sozan ÅŒfuna Kannonji is a Buddhist temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan. The outstanding feature of the temple is a 25 meter tall 1,900 ton reinforced concrete statue of Kan'non which is dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon or Kuan Yin.
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Kannon is considered male in the Buddhist traditions of India, Tibet, and Southeast Asia. But in China, the Kannon is commonly portrayed as female (for reasons not easily explained or understood). In Japan, the male form predominates in sculpture and art, although female manifestations of Kannon are nonetheless plentiful. Indeed, a persistent femininity clings to Kannon imagery in both pre-modern and modern Japan. This is true in Western nations as well, where Kannon is most commonly known as the "Goddess of Mercy."But the "goddess" part is doubtful and unsupported by any canonical text in the Buddhist scriptures.
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Kannon appears in multiple forms. According to legend, Kannon was so overwhelmed by human suffering that his head split. Amida Buddha put Kannon back together, but gave Kannon eleven heads and a thousand (meaning "many" arms). Kannon images are therefore usually multi-faced and mutli-limbed. Kannon's gender is ambiguous in both Japan and China.
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The Kannon, in all her/his manifestations, occupies a major place in the liturgy of Japan's Pure Land sects, whose principal deity of worship is Amida. In Japan, Kannon is ... worshipped independently, and widely venerated as a patron of motherhood, fertility, and easy delivery (see Learn More below). The most widely known pilgrimage circuits in Japan devoted to Kannon cover 100 sites, and making the circuit to each in proper order is said to save the believer from hell and to open the gates to everlasting life.
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The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Kannon) appears in many manifestations, some of them supernatural in appearance with, for example, eleven faces or a large number of arms. The Sacred Avalokiteshvara —or Sho-kannon in Japanese —has a normal human shape with only one face and one pair of arms. This is the most fundamental form of the bodhisattva, and when people speak of Kannon, they usually have Sho-kannon in mind.
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Kannon, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, is probably Japan's most popular Buddhist deity. Images of Kannon - who hears the cries for help of all beings in distress - are the main focus of worship in many Japanese temples. This volume presents an exceptional selection of the most beautiful sculptures and paintings from the seventh to the fourteenth century, some of which have never been seen before outside Japan or which are rarely accessible even to the Japanese public.
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