Southern Round Hall Important Cultural Property

Fukūkensaku Kannon  (National Treasure) 

Fukūkensaku Kannon (“Kannon with the Infallible Snare”) is one of the so-called “transformation forms” manifested by the Bodhisattva Kannon (Skt. Avalokiteśvara) in order to assist sentient beings. The name of this deity derives from the snare (actually a weighted rope or lasso) that he holds in one of his hands, and which he uses to rescue sentient beings, protect them from harm, and fulfill their wishes and desires.

The image is portrayed with four pairs of hands. The first pair are joined together in front of the chest. The left hand of the second pair holds a lotus, while the right grasps a monk’s staff. The hands of the third pair are extended outwards on the sides of his hips with the palms facing up, while the left hand of the fourth and final pair holds a snare, and the right, a flywhisk.

The hair is piled into a tall topknot covered by a crown containing a small standing image of Amida Nyorai (Skt. Amitābha). The forehead features a third, vertical eye. The upper body of the image was originally covered with a deerskin draped diagonally over the left shoulder, though this has now been lost.

This image is the central icon of the Southern Round Hall. It was constructed by the Buddhist sculptor Kōkei (flourished ca. 1175-1200) and his disciples as a replacement for the original icon of the Southern Round Hall, which was lost along with all the other original sculptures when the building burned down in 1181. Carved over a 15-month period, and completed in 1189, its massive body and dignified facial expression indicate that the sculptors consciously imitated the sculptural styles of the Nara (710–794) and early Heian (794–1185) periods.