The Template:Nihongo is a divine creature with a human torso and birdlike head[1] in Japanese mythology.
The name is a transliteration[1] of garuda,[1] a race of enormously gigantic birds in Hinduism.[2] The Japanese Buddhist version is based upon Hindu Mythology. The same creature may go by the name of Template:Nihongo3.[1]
The karura is said to be enormous,[3] fire-breathing,[3] and to feed on dragons/serpents,[3] just as Garuda is the bane of Nāgas. Only a dragon who possesses a Buddhist talisman, or one who has converted to the Buddhist teaching, can escape unharmed from the Karura.Template:Citation needed Shumisen or Mount Meru is said to be its habitat.[3]
Karura is one of the proselytized and converted creatures recruited to form a guardian unit called the Template:Nihongo.[4][5]
One famous example is the Karura statue at Kōfuku-ji, Nara, amongst the eight deva statues presented at the Buddhābhiṣeka dated to the year Tenpyō 6 or 734, pictured top right).[4] This karura is depicted as wearing Tang Chinese-style armor, and thus is seen wingless.
But more conventionally, the Karura is depicted as a winged being with human torso and avian head, as in the Vajra Hall (Template:Nihongo) section of the Womb Realm mandala (Template:Nihongo) and other iconographic books and scrolls.[1]
In fine art
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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.[1][3]
The flaming nimbus or halo is known by the name "karura flame"[1] and typically seen adorning behind the statue of the Template:Nihongo).
The karura is also said to be the prototype of the depictions of the tengu[3] or karasutengu.[1]
In popular culture
The Pokémon evolutionary line of Magby, Magmar, and Magmortar may have been based on the karura.
In the anime Blue Exorcist Karura is a powerful fire demon that can be seen in service of the Myōō Dharani. [6]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 '{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Shinchosha(1985). ISBN 4-10-730206-7
- ↑ Hindu Gods and Goddesses in Japan{{#if:Chaudhuri|, Chaudhuri}
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 '{{#if:Shinmura|, Shinmura}. Iwanami(1976). Japanese dictionary, 2nd revised edition
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 '{{#if:Murano|, Murano}. Art Research Foundation(1997)
- ↑ The multilexic Template:Harvnb dictionary does not give an English or any other language equivalent for this entry.
- ↑ Blue Exorcist Vol. 7{{#if:Kazue|, Kazue}. VIZ Media LLC(2012). ISBN 978-1421542621