Suitengū (Tokyo)

Suiten-gū
水天宮

The current shrine (Rebuilt in 2016)
Information
Dedicated to Amenominakanushi（as Varuna）
Emperor Antoku
Taira no Tokuko
Taira no Tokiko
Founded 1818
Address 2-4-1 Nihonbashi-Kakigarachō, Chūō
Tokyo 103-0014
Website www.suitengu.or.jp
Glossary of Shinto

The meaning of Suiten-gū (水天宮) is a shrine of Varuna. Varuna had been called "Suiten" in Japanese buddhism. He is one of the twelve Devas, as guardian deities, who are found in or around Buddhist shrines (Jūni-ten, 十二天).[1][note 1]

Suitengu is a Shinto shrine in Chūō, Tokyo, Japan. It is devoted to conception and safe childbirth. In 1818 the ninth daimyo of the Kurume Domain established the Suiten-gū in Edo as a branch of a shrine of the same name in Kurume, Fukuoka. It was inside the grounds of the domain's mansion in the Mita district of what is now Minato, Tokyo, and the domain opened it to the public on the fifth day of every month. In 1871, the Arima family moved from Mita to Akasaka, taking the shrine with it, and in the following year they moved the shrine to its present location, on a site that had been the family's middle mansion

In Suitengu, Varuna was also deified. For Shinbutsu bunri, when Shinto deities and Buddhist deities were separated, Varuna was changed to Amenominakanushi.[5]

There are about 25 other shrines of the same name in Japan. Suitengumae Station is close to this shrine and takes its name from it.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Varuna joins these other eleven Devas of Buddhism, found in Japan and other parts of southeast Asia: Indra (Taishaku-ten), Agni (Ka-ten), Yama (Emma-ten), Nirrti (Rasetsu-ten), Vayu (Fu-ten), Ishana (Ishana-ten), Kubera (Tamon-ten), Varuna (Sui-ten) Brahma (Bon-ten), Prithvi (Chi-ten), Surya (Nit-ten), Chandra (Gat-ten).[2][3][4]

References

  1. ↑ Twelve Heavenly Deities (Devas) Nara National Museum, Japan
  2. ↑ Willem Frederik Stutterheim et al (1995), Rāma-legends and Rāma-reliefs in Indonesia, ISBN 978-8170172512, pages xiv-xvi
  3. ↑ S Biswas (2000), Art of Japan, Northern, ISBN 978-8172112691, page 184
  4. ↑ Adrian Snodgrass (2007), The Symbolism of the Stupa, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120807815, pages 120-124, 298-300
  5. ↑ "Tokyo Suitengu monogatari" 1985 Kodansha, ISBN 406202117X

Coordinates: 35°41′01″N 139°47′06″E / 35.68361°N 139.78500°E / 35.68361; 139.78500


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