hōkyōintō 宝筺印塔

Lit. Hōkyōin pagoda. A type of pagoda (Sk: stupa) originally made as a repository for copies of the Hōkyōin Daranikyō 宝筺印陀羅尼経. In the Heian period hōkyōintō were made of gilt bronze or wood, but by the Kamakura period these pagodas were usually made of stone and used as funerary markers. The distinctive rectangular shape of the hōkyōintō has a low, rectangular foundation *kiso 基礎, surmounted by a square body *tōshin 塔身, which often bears an image of the Buddha or a Sanskrit syllable. The top story or umbrella *kasa 笠 is a stepped pyramid with wing-like decoration at the four corners. Above this an inverted bowl shape *fukubachi 伏鉢, supports a ring of lotus petals *ukebana 受花; nine rings *kurin 九輪 form the shaft *sōrin 相輪, which supports another lotus petal ring and finally, an onion-shaped form called a *hōju 宝珠. The parts from the fukubachi to the hōju are all circular, the other members of the hōkyōintō are square. The podium itself is sometimes decorated with a foliated form *kōzama 格狭間, that resembles a side view of a molding, while the lower half resembles the outline of a bowl. The body of the pagoda has either carvings of the Buddha on each side or Sanskrit letters. However, undecorated pagoda bodies also exist. The stepped coping may have moldings carved on the undersides. Examples: Hōkyōintō (1259), Nara Arisatochō 有里町; Enfukuji Hōkyōintō 円福寺宝篋印塔 (1296) Nara, Iinji Hōkyōintō 為因寺宝篋印塔 (1265), Kyoto.