Keywords
Art History
Sculpture
A pestle with three prongs at each end, usually made of gilt bronze. The central grip is often encircled by demons' eyes kimoku 鬼目, and above and below these is a lotus flower design. The sankosho is a type of *kongōsho 金剛杵 derived from an Indian weapon, and it is a symbolic item in Esoteric Buddhism *mikkyō hōgu 密教法具. It is also found as an attribute *jimotsu 持物 of Buddhist guardian figures, and represents the indestructibility of Buddhist law, and its power over evil. An example of a figure holding a sankosho is the Gundari Myōō-zō 軍荼利明王像 (1064) in Kyōōgokokuji 教王護国寺 (Tōji 東寺), Kyoto.