kayōza 荷葉座

Also sometimes read kashouza. A lotus-leaf, kayou 荷葉 dais for a Buddhist image *daiza 台座, made in the form of down-turned lotus leaves forming a round mound with up-turned edges. The kayōza is generally used for images of *ten 天 (heavenly beings), such as *Daikokuten 大黒天, *Bonten 梵天, *Taishakuten 帝釈天, *Benzaiten 弁才天, and *Kichijōten 吉祥天. This type of base was brought to Japan with Esoteric Buddhism mikkyō 密教 in the 9th century. The Kamakura images of Kichijōten and Zennishi Dōji 善膩師童子 from Sekkeiji 雪蹊寺 in Kōchi Prefecture, by the sculptor Tankei 湛慶 (ca. 1225) have fine examples of this pedestal.