Keywords
Art History
Crafts
A flag, made in cloth and covered with gilt-bronze, used for the Buddhist abhiseka ceremony of sprinkling water on the head of a devotee. A large 7th-century canopy *tengai 天蓋, at Hōryūji 法隆寺 includes six big and small flags and hanging decorations. Made of gilt-bronze sheets with open work *sukashibori 透彫, they include patterns of honeysuckle arabesque, clouds, Buddhas, bodhisattvas, flying celestials, Chinese lions, and buildings.