a-un 阿吽

Sk: a-hum. 'A' is the sound of the first letter of the Sanskrit alphabet and is pronounced with the mouth open. 'Un' is the sound of the last letter of the Sanskrit alphabet and is pronounced with the mouth closed. At the entrance to a Shinto shrine, there are often two lion-dog shrine guardians *komainu 狛犬, one with mouth open and the other with mouth closed. *Niō 仁王 (two kings) guardian figures are found at either side of a Buddhist temple gate, in the same poses. 'A' and 'un' represent the beginning and the end of all things, or inhalation and exhalation, respectively. The expression with the mouth open is known as *Agyō 阿形 and that with mouth closed as Ungyō 吽形. Examples include the stucco Niō from 711 guarding the central gate *Chūmon 中門 of Hōryūji 法隆寺 in Nara. The right-hand figure (when facing the gate) has the Agyō expression, and the left-hand figure the Ungyō expression. Another example of an A-un pair are Japan's largest Niō (wood, 8.03 m), guarding the *Nandaimon 南大門 at Tōdaiji 東大寺 in Nara, made by Unkei 運慶 (?-1223) in the Kamakura period.