https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=KaruraKarura - Revision history2026-07-31T23:39:28ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Karura&diff=465872&oldid=prevVillagetalkies at 09:51, 2 November 20252025-11-02T09:51:27Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Japanese mythological creature}}<br />
{{For|the subregion in Eritrea|Karura subregion}}<br />
[[File:Karura of Kofukuji.jpg|thumb|A statue depicting a wingless Karura from [[Kōfuku-ji]], [[Nara, Nara|Nara]], 8th century.]]<br />
[[File:観音と迦楼羅 Avalokitasvara and Garuda.jpg|thumb|An illustration from an 1866 Japanese book. Karura, who is an incarnation of [[Guanyin|Bodhisattva Kannon]] in this scene, gives a sermon to folks.]]<br />
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The {{nihongo|'''Karura'''|迦楼羅}} is a divine creature with a human torso and birdlike head<ref name=shincho>{{cite book|author=Shinchosha|script-title=ja:新潮世界美術事典|trans-title=Shincho Encyclopedia of World Art|year=1985|publisher=Shinchosha|isbn=4-10-730206-7}}</ref> in [[Japanese mythology]].<br />
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The name is a [[transliteration]]<ref name=shincho/> of [[garuda]],<ref name=shincho/> a race of enormously gigantic birds in [[Hinduism]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Hindu Gods and Goddesses in Japan |first=Saroj Kumar |last=Chaudhuri |page=151}}</ref> The Japanese Buddhist version is based upon Hindu Mythology. The same creature may go by the name of {{Nihongo3|lit. "gold-winged bird"|金翅鳥|konjichō|Skr. ''{{lang|sa|suparṇa}}''}}.<ref name=shincho/><br />
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The karura is said to be enormous,<ref name=kojien>{{cite book|last=Shinmura|first=Izuru|script-title=ja:広辞苑|trans-title=Kōjien|year=1976|publisher=Iwanami}}. Japanese dictionary, 2nd revised edition</ref> fire-breathing,<ref name=kojien/> and to feed on dragons/serpents,<ref name=kojien/> just as Garuda is the bane of [[Nāga]]s. Only a dragon who possesses a [[Buddhist]] talisman, or one who has converted to the Buddhist teaching, can escape unharmed from the Karura.{{citation needed|date=April 2012}} Shumisen or [[Mount Meru]] is said to be its habitat.<ref name=kojien/><br />
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Karura is one of the [[proselytism|proselytized]] and converted creatures recruited to form a guardian unit called the {{Nihongo|''[[Eight Legions|Hachibushū]]''|八部衆||"Devas of the Eight Classes"}}.<ref name=kofukuji-cat>{{cite book|last=Murano|first=Takao|others=Tetsurô Kôno (trans.)|script-title=ja:興福寺国宝展|trans-title=Kōfukuji kokuhō ten |type=exhibit catalog|year=1997|publisher=Art Research Foundation |at=Item #3-2, p.vii (English caption); 32-33 (photo); p.189 (text by Kaneko Tomoaki({{lang|ja|金子智明}})}}</ref><ref>The multilexic {{Harvnb|Shinchosha|1985}} dictionary does not give an English or any other language equivalent for this entry.</ref><br />
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One famous example is the Karura statue at [[Kōfuku-ji]], [[Nara, Nara|Nara]], amongst the eight deva statues presented at the [[Buddhābhiṣeka]] dated to the year [[Tenpyō]] 6 or 734, pictured top right).<ref name=kofukuji-cat/> This karura is depicted as wearing [[Tang dynasty|Tang Chinese]]-style armor, and thus is seen wingless.<br />
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But more conventionally, the Karura is depicted as a winged being with human torso and avian head, as in the Vajra Hall ({{Nihongo|''Kongō buin''|金剛部院}}) section of the [[Womb Realm]] mandala ({{Nihongo|''Taizōkai mandara''|胎蔵界曼荼羅}}) and other [[iconographic]] books and scrolls.<ref name=shincho/><br />
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==In fine art==<br />
[[File:Karura (gigaku mask).jpg|thumb|left|Karura gikau mask (source: ''Shuko Jisshu'', Todaiji Hachimangu (1895))]]<br />
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The karura (garuda) mask is one of the stock character masks worn by performers of the ancient Japanese courtly dance art of [[gigaku]].<ref name=shincho/><ref name=kojien/><br />
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The flaming nimbus or halo is known by the name "karura flame"<ref name=shincho/> and typically seen adorning behind the statue of the {{Nihongo|[[Fudō-Myō|Fudō-myōō]]|不動明王}}).<br />
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The karura is also said to be the prototype of the depictions of the ''[[tengu]]''<ref name=kojien/> or ''[[karasutengu]]''.<ref name=shincho/><br />
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==In popular culture==<br />
The ''[[Pokémon]]'' evolutionary line of [[Magby]], [[List of generation I Pokémon#Magmar|Magmar]], and [[Magmortar]] may have been based on the karura.<br />
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In the anime ''[[Blue Exorcist]]'' Karura is a powerful fire demon that can be seen in service of the Myōō Dharani. <ref>{{Cite book |last=Kazue |first=Kato |title=Blue Exorcist Vol. 7 |publisher=VIZ Media LLC |year=2012 |isbn=978-1421542621 |language=Japanese}}</ref><br />
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== See also ==<br />
{{div col|colwidth=30em}} <br />
::::::* [[Avalerion]]<br />
::::::* [[Garuda]]<br />
::::::* [[Kalaviṅka]]<br />
::::::* [[Kinnara]]<br />
::::::* [[List of avian humanoids]]<br />
::::::* [[List of Zatch Bell! characters]]<br />
::::::* [[Tengu]]<br />
::::::* [[Utawarerumono]]<br />
{{div col end}}<br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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==External links==<br />
*{{Commons category-inline}}<br />
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[[Category:Buddhist gods]]<br />
[[Category:Birds in Buddhism]]<br />
[[Category:Japanese legendary creatures]]<br />
[[Category:Mythological birds of prey]]<br />
[[Category:Avian humanoids]]<br />
[[Category:Japanese Vajrayana Buddhism]]<br />
[[Category:Mythological and legendary Japanese birds]]<br />
[[Category:Japanese Buddhist deities]]<br />
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