miya mandara 宮曼荼羅

Lit. "mandala of a shrine." Devotional paintings (usually on large hanging scrolls) of the landscape of a shrine and its surrounding area. The deities themselves are not usually depicted although their presence in the depicted area is assumed. A type of suijakuga 垂迹画. When a Buddhist temple related to the Shinto shrine is included in the subject of the painting it is called shaji mandara 社寺曼荼羅 (mandala of shrine and temple). When the deities of a shrine are the focus of the painting, then the painting is called *songyō mandara 尊形曼荼羅. Since deities are often depicted on a small scale in the shrine landscape, the distinction between miya mandara and songyō mandara may not always be clear.