Hindu deities in Japan
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(New
Delhi, Feb 17, IANS)
Apart from the
widely known fact that Buddhism in Japan has its origin in India, not many
probably know that so many Hindu deities surround the life of a
Japanese.
Speaking at a lecture titled 'Hindu Gods and
Goddesses rooted to Japan' here Friday, Lokesh Chandra, the director of
International Academy of Indian Culture, highlighted how deeply Indian religion
and culture has influenced Japanese culture and tradition over the past
centuries.
He said that many temples across Japan are full of Hindu
deities.
Chandra said Japanese couples who desire to have a beautiful
daughter pray to goddess 'Saraswati' even to this day. Saraswati is also
believed as the patroness of writers and painters.
"In ancient times,
Japanese generals prayed to Saraswati to be victorious in war," Chandra told the
gathering which was also attended by the Japanese Ambassador to India Yasukuni
Enoki and his wife.
Year 2007 is being celebrated as Japan-India
Friendship Year to commemorate the 50th year of the cultural agreement between
the two countries.
According to Chandra, who has travelled to Japan
many times to study the country's culture and tradition, Saraswati is also
worshipped as the 'goddesses of kitchen'.
Many traditional Japanese
plays are dedicated to the Indian deity.
Sharing a trivia he said how
in 1934, a Japanese woman had a vision that she was the incarnation of goddess
Saraswati and stared writing in Sanskrit, a language she never heard
off.
There is a suburban district in Tokyo named Kichijo, which
traces its roots to 'Lakshmi', the Hindu goddess of wealth. Lakshmi was
propagated to China along with Buddhism in the ancient time, to be known as
Kichijo in its Chinese form and then reached Japan as a Buddhist
goddess.
Chandra also spoke extensively about how Sanskrit language
has influenced traditional Japanese calligraphy.
The Indian text was
introduced into Japanese society many centuries ago. Japanese monks had to study
Sanskrit in order to master Buddhism from original Indian scriptures and
textbooks.
Lord Ganesha in Japan symbolises the joy of life that
arises from the power rooted in the virtues of wisdom and
compassion.
Young Japanese worship Ganesha to win in love whereas the
old worship the deity to get success in business.
There are roughly
100 temples dedicated to Ganesha in Japan, Chandra added. An 11th century
Ganesha temple is the oldest among them.
Together with Hindu gods and
goddess, ancient Japanese society was also introduced to Indian dance forms and
musical instruments.
A typical example is the 'Biwa', which actually
had its origin from the Indian 'Veena'. One of Japan's largest lake is also
known as Lake Biwa.
One can also see the influence of the Indian epic
Ramayana in the traditional Japanese dance forms of 'Bugaku' and
'Gigaku'.
The yearlong cultural celebration was kicked off here last
week that was attended by former Japanese prime minister Yoshiro Mori among
others.
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