ensōkō 円相光

Also ensō kōhai 円相光背. A large circular halo *kōhai 光背 found on Buddhist images, particularly *Kokūzō Bosatsu 虚空蔵菩薩 and *Aizen Myōō 愛染明王. On mandalas the ensōkō surrounds the whole figure, while on statues it frames the head and upper body. The ensōkō encloses smaller halos around the head *zukō 頭光 and body *shinkō 身光. Good examples are the Kokūzō Bosatsu (late 8th-early 9th century) in Kakuanji 額安寺, Nara, and the Aizen Myōō (1673) in Chōunji 長雲寺, Nagano Prefecture.