Raijin



During my trip to sanjusangendo I noticed at the very end of the hall people stopping and praying infront of 1 particular statue. When I got closer I realized it was a statue of raijin. Raijin is a famous Japanese god who brings rains and storms. According to legend When the Mongols where trying to invade Japan they were thwarted by heavy rains which increased the popularity of Raijin. His first appearance may have been in the kojiki. There are some thunder gods who appeared on izanamis corpse after she died and they chased izanagi out of the underworld. One of these could have been raijin but it isnt explicitly stated if he is one of them. The first confirmed story is probably the reason he is shown here in the temple with kannon. There is a myth about an emporer who ordered suguru ( a god catcher) to find and capture raijin. Suguru then went to raijin and asked him to turn himself in. Raijin mocked suguru for this request so suguru turned to kannon to help capture raijin. Kannon agreed and helped suguru deliver raijin to the emporer where he made a promise to use his powers to protect Japan. In a way kannon can be seen as taming this michevious god and making him into someone who works for good. This goes well with the amida Buddhism which was very open to letting all become enlighten.

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