Praying to Akakura Daigongen
This votive painting, very similar to a painting
on the opposite wall, shows the shrine foundressand another
worshipper kneeling to the left of Fudo waterfall;
across from them, again suspended ona golden brocaded
cloud, stands the white haired elderly manifestation of
Akakura Daigongen,
bearing a large banner in his right hand. On either
side of the gorge at the top of the waterfall, are two
trees, bending inwards towards one another. (Some
shrine members gloss these as the two trees from which
the shimenawa is hung over the gorge, every May 1st, during
the Mountain Opening
ceremony.) Just above the top of the waterfall,
a bird flies between the two trees, from right to left;
like the dragons in other paintings, the bird has one
of its legs extended forward. Like the dragon, the bird
is at times glossed as an incarnation of Akakura Daigongen.
Whole Painting:
