Zōchōten 増長天

Sk: Virudhaka. A fierce-looking guardian deity *funnusō 忿怒相, believed to protect the south of Buddha's realm. Usually part of a group of Four Guardian Kings *Shitennō 四天王. They often wears armor yoroi 鎧 and stands on a demon *jaki 邪鬼. Zōchōten's hand positions *in 印, and attributes *jimotsu 持物, are not rigidly prescribed. He often holds a spear and a sword. Japan's oldest Zōchōten statue, holding a halberd and sword, for most part of the mid-7th-century Shitennō in Hōryūji *Kondō 法隆寺金堂, Nara.