Editing Acala (section)

== Iconography ==
[[File:Center figure detail, Acala, the Buddhist Protector (cropped).jpg|thumb|321x321px|A 14th century (early [[Malla period]]) Nepalese depiction of a kneeling Acala]]
[[File:Seated Acala Statue with Kurikara Sword.jpg|alt=Seated Acala Statue with Kurikara Sword|thumb|Seated statue of Acala with the Kurikara Sword and a noose at [[Waterloo Street]], Singapore.]]
The ''Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa Tantra''{{'s}} description of Acala is a good summary of the deity's depiction in South Asian Buddhist art.

{{Poemquote
|text="His right hand is terrifying with a sword in it,
His left is holding a noose;
He is making a threatening gesture with his index finger,
And bites his lower lip with his fangs.
"Kicking with his right foot,
He is smashing the four [[Mara (demon)|Māras]].
His left knee is on the ground.
Squint eyed, he inspires fear.
"He points a threatening gesture at Vasudhā [i.e. the earth],
Kneeling on the cap of his left knee.
He has [[Akshobhya|Akṣobhya]] for his crest jewel;
He is of blue color and wears a jewel diadem.
"A princely youth, Wearing Five Braids of Hair,
Adorned with all the ornaments,
He appears to be sixteen years old,
And his eyes are red—he, the powerful one."<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|title=The Tantra of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa|url=https://read.84000.co/translation/toh431.html|access-date=2020-11-28|website=84000: Translating The Words of The Buddha|language=en}}</ref>}}

In Nepalese and Tibetan art, Acala is usually shown either kneeling on his left knee or standing astride, bearing a noose or [[lasso]] (''pāśa'') and an upraised sword. Some depictions portray him trampling on the elephant-headed Vighnarāja (lit. "Ruler of Hindrances", a Buddhist equivalent to the Hindu god [[Ganesha]], albeit interpreted negatively as one who causes obstacles), signifying his role as the destroyer of impediments to enlightenment. He may also be shown wearing a tiger skin, with snakes coiled around his arms and body.<ref name="donaldson2" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Achala (Buddhist Deity) - Blue, Standing|url=https://www.himalayanart.org/items/594|access-date=2020-12-09|website=Himalayan Art}}</ref>

[[File:Fudo Myoo Kodo Toji.jpg|thumb|325x325px|Statue of Acala in the Lecture Hall (''Kōdō'') of [[Tō-ji]] in [[Kyoto]]]]

By contrast, portrayals of Acala (Fudō) in Japan generally tend to conform to the description given in the ''Amoghapāśakalparāja Sūtra'' and the ''Mahāvairocana Tantra'': holding a lasso and a sword while sitting or standing on a rock (盤石座, ''banjakuza'') or a pile of hewn stones (瑟瑟座, ''shitsushitsuza''), with his braided hair hanging from the left of his head.<ref>{{Cite web|title=お不動様の台座|url=http://fukagawafudou.jugem.jp/?eid=1410|access-date=2020-12-05|website=成田山 東京別院 深川不動堂 (Fukagawa Fudō-dō Official Website)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=不動明王の髪型|url=http://fukagawafudou.jugem.jp/?eid=1863|access-date=2020-12-05|website=成田山 東京別院 深川不動堂 (Fukagawa Fudō-dō Official Website)}}</ref><ref name="snyder2">{{Harvnb|Snyder|1999}} pg. 244</ref> He may also be depicted with a lotus flower - a symbol of enlightenment - on his head (頂蓮, ''chōren'').<ref>{{Cite web|title=法愛 仏事の心構え|url=https://www.gokokuji.jp/houai/ceremony/201303.html|access-date=2020-12-05|website=法城山 護国寺 (Hōjō-zan Gokoku-ji Official Website)}}</ref> Unlike the South Asian Acala, whose striding posture conveys movement and dynamism, the Japanese Fudō sits or stands erect, suggesting motionlessness and rigidity.<ref name=":02" /> The sword he wields may or may not be flaming and is sometimes described generically as a {{Nihongo|"jeweled sword"|宝剣|''hōken''}} or {{Nihongo|"[[vajra]] sword"|金剛剣|''kongō-ken''}}, which is descriptive of the fact that the sword's pommel is in the shape of the talon-like [[vajra]] (金剛杵, ''kongō-sho''). It may also be referred to as a {{Nihongo|"three-pronged vajra sword"|三鈷剣|sanko-ken}}.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sato|first=Ken'ichi(佐藤貫一)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2GwSAQAAMAAJ|title=日本の刀剣|publisher=Shibundo(至文堂)|year=1961|page=81|format=snippet}}</ref> In some cases, he is seen holding the "Kurikara sword" (倶利伽羅剣, ''Kurikara-ken''),<ref>{{cite book|author=Heibonsha|title=世界百科事典(world encyclopedia)|year=1969|orig-year=1968}}, article on "akafudo" by Tanaka, Ichimatsu (田中一松)</ref> a sword with the dragon (''[[nāga]]'') king Kurikara (倶利伽羅; Sanskrit: ''Kulikāla-rāja'' or ''Kṛkāla-rāja'') coiled around it.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Faure|first=Bernard|title=The Fluid Pantheon: Gods of Medieval Japan, Volume 1|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|year=2015|pages=144}}</ref> The flaming [[Halo (religious iconography)|nimbus]] or halo behind Acala is commonly known in Japanese as the "[[Garuda]] flame" (迦楼羅炎, ''karura-en'') after the mythical [[Karura|fire-breathing bird]] from Indian mythology.<ref name="shincho2" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Important Cultural Property - Fudō Myōō (Acalanātha) and Eight Child Acolytes (Kumāras) |url=https://www.narahaku.go.jp/english/collection/1012-0.html |website=Nara National Museum |access-date=2022-06-12}}</ref>

[[File:MET 56 121 26 162315.jpg|left|thumb|222x222px|Acala with mismatched eyes (''tenchigan'', lit. "heaven-and-earth eyes") and fangs, by [[Hokusai|Katsushika Hokusai]]]]

There are two main variations in the iconography of Acala / Fudō in Japan. The first type (observable in the earliest extant Japanese images of the deity) shows him with wide open, glaring eyes, straight hair braided in rows and two fangs pointed in the same direction; a lotus flower rests above his head. The second type (which first appeared in the late 9th century and became increasingly common during the late [[Heian period|Heian]] and [[Kamakura period|Kamakura]] periods), by contrast, portrays Acala with curly hair, one eye wide open and/or looking upwards, with the other narrowed and/or looking downwards, an iconographic trait known as the ''tenchigan'' (天地眼), "heaven-and-earth eyes". Similarly, one of his fangs is now shown as pointing up, with the other pointing down. In place of the lotus flower, images of this type may sport seven topknots.<ref name="snyder2" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Fudō Myouō (Acalanatha)|url=https://emuseum.nich.go.jp/detail?langId=en&webView=null&content_base_id=100429&content_part_id=001&content_pict_id=009|access-date=2020-12-09|website=e-Museum - National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Murase|first=Miyeko|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZQ8NAl2Bj-4C&pg=PA31|title=Japanese Art: Selections from the Mary and Jackson Burke Collection|date=1975|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|isbn=978-0-87099-136-3|pages=31|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=明王|url=http://www.janis.or.jp/users/sairyuta/tera/myouo.html|access-date=2020-12-09|website=仏教ミニ辞典|language=ja}}</ref>

Although the squinting left eye and inverted fangs of the second type ultimately derives from the description of Acala given in the ''Mahāvairocana Tantra'' and Yi Xing's commentary on the text ("with his lower [right] tooth he bites the upper-right side of his lip, and with his left [-upper tooth he bites] his lower lip which sticks out"), these attributes were mostly absent in Chinese and earlier Japanese icons.<ref>{{cite thesis |last1=Bond |first1=Kevin |title=Ritual and Iconography in the Japanese Esoteric Buddhist Tradition: The Nineteen Visualizations of Fudō Myōō |url=https://kipdf.com/ritual-and-iconography-in-the-japanese-esoteric-buddhist-tradition-the-nineteen-_5ad0f3727f8b9afb7d8b456b.html |date=2001 |publisher=McMaster University |pages=18–52}}</ref>

Acala's mismatched eyes and fangs were allegorically interpreted to signify both the duality and nonduality of his nature (and of all reality): the upward fang for instance was interpreted as symbolizing the process of elevation towards enlightenment, with the downward fang symbolizing the descent of enlightened beings into the world to teach sentient beings. The two fangs also symbolize the realms of buddhas and sentient beings, [[yin and yang]], and male and female, with the nonduality of these two polar opposites being expressed by Acala's tightly closed lips.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Faure|first=Bernard|title=The Fluid Pantheon: Gods of Medieval Japan, Volume 1|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|year=2015|pages=162}}</ref>

[[File:Yellow-Fudo-manshu.jpg|thumb|12th century painting of Yellow Acala (黄不動, ''Ki-Fudō'') in [[Manshu-in]] in [[Kyoto]], based on an image (not available to public view) kept at [[Mii-dera]] in Shiga Prefecture]]
Acala is commonly shown as having either black or blue skin (the ''Sādhanamālā'' describes his color as being "like that of the ''atasī'' ([[flax]]) flower," which may be either yellow<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bhattacharyya|first=Benoytosh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DC4TAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA155|title=The Indian Buddhist Iconography|date=1958|publisher=Firma K.L. Mukhopadhyay|isbn=978-5-87961-085-7|pages=154–155|language=en}}</ref> or blue<ref>{{Cite web|title=Atasi - Linum usitaissimum|url=http://www.indianmedicinalplants.info/nd2/Linum-usitaissimum-(ATASI).html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-10|website=Encyclopedia of Ayurvedic Medicinal Plants|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130808001610/http://www.indianmedicinalplants.info/nd2/Linum-usitaissimum-(ATASI).html |archive-date=8 August 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Rodrigues|first=Hillary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KUlNAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA334|title=Ritual Worship of the Great Goddess: The Liturgy of the Durga Puja with Interpretations|date=2003|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-0-7914-5400-8|pages=334|language=en}}</ref>), though he may be at times portrayed in other colors. In Tibet, for instance, a variant of the kneeling Acala depiction shows him as being white in hue "like sunrise on a snow mountain reflecting many rays of light".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Buddhist Deity: Achala, White|url=https://www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=2388|access-date=2020-12-09|website=Himalayan Art}}</ref> In Japan, some images may depict Acala sporting a red (赤不動, ''Aka-Fudō'') or yellow (黄不動, ''Ki-Fudō'') complexion. The most famous example of the ''Aka-Fudō'' portrayal is a painting kept at [[:ja:明王院 (高野山)|Myōō-in]] on [[Mount Kōya]] ([[Wakayama Prefecture]]) traditionally attributed to the [[Heian period]] [[Tendai]] monk [[Enchin]]. Legend claims that Enchin, inspired by a vision of Acala, painted the image using his own blood (thus explaining its red color), though recent analysis suggests that the image may have been actually created much later, during the [[Kamakura period]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Faure|first=Bernard|title=The Fluid Pantheon: Gods of Medieval Japan, Volume 1|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|year=2015|page=141}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=高野山別格本山明王院 |url=http://www.acala.jpn.org/ |website=高野山別格本山明王院 (Kōya-san Bekkaku Honzan Myōō-in) |access-date=2021-03-07|language=Japanese}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=赤不動 |url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E8%B5%A4%E4%B8%8D%E5%8B%95-24422 |website=コトバンク (Kotobank) |access-date=2021-03-07}}</ref> The most well-known image of the ''Ki-Fudō'' type, meanwhile, is enshrined in [[Mii-dera]] (Onjō-ji) at the foot of [[Mount Hiei]] in [[Shiga Prefecture]] and is said to have been based on another vision that Enchin saw while practicing austerities in 838. The original Mii-dera ''Ki-Fudō'' is traditionally only shown to esoteric masters (''[[Acharya|ācārya]]''; 阿闍梨, ''ajari'') during initiation rites and is otherwise not shown to the public, though copies of it have been made. One such copy, made in the 12th century, is kept at [[Manshu-in]] in [[Kyoto]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=不動明王立像（黄不動）|url=http://www.shiga-miidera.or.jp/treasure/abinusttp/07.htm|access-date=2020-12-09|website=Mii-dera Official Website}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=金色不動明王画像|url=http://www.shiga-miidera.or.jp/treasure/abinusttp/01.htm|access-date=2020-12-09|website=Mii-dera Official Website}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Miyasaka|first=Yūshō|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o6ngsSN-ATAC&pg=PA62|title=不動信仰事典 (Fudō-shinkō Jiten)|publisher=Ebisu Kōshō Shuppan|year=2006|isbn=978-4-900901-68-1|pages=62|language=ja}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=黄不動|url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E9%BB%84%E4%B8%8D%E5%8B%95-51493|access-date=2020-12-09|website=コトバンク (kotobank)|language=ja}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Faure|first=Bernard|title=The Fluid Pantheon: Gods of Medieval Japan, Volume 1|date=2015|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|pages=137–138|language=en}}</ref>

The deity is usually depicted with one head and two arms, though a few portrayals show him with multiple heads, arms or legs.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Iconography Set: Achala (Zurich)|url=https://www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=1827|access-date=2020-12-09|website=Himalayan Art}}</ref> In Japan, a depiction of Acala with four arms is employed in subjugation rituals and earth-placating rituals (安鎮法, ''anchin-hō''); this four-armed form is identified in one text as "the lord of the various categories [of [[Deva (Buddhism)|gods]]]."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Faure|first=Bernard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UlkEEAAAQBAJ|title=The Fluid Pantheon: Gods of Medieval Japan, Volume 1|date=2015|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|pages=125–126|isbn=9780824857028|language=en}}</ref> An iconographic depiction known as the "Two-Headed [[Rāgarāja]]" (両頭愛染, ''Ryōzu Aizen'' or ''Ryōtō Aizen'') shows Acala combined with the wisdom king [[Rāgarāja]] (Aizen).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Faure|first=Bernard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UlkEEAAAQBAJ|title=The Fluid Pantheon: Gods of Medieval Japan, Volume 1|date=2015|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|pages=199–201|isbn=9780824857028|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=両頭愛染明王|url=http://tobifudo.jp/butuzo/myoou/ryoaizen.html|access-date=2020-12-10|website=仏様の世界|publisher=飛不動 龍光山正寶院 (Tobi-Fudō Ryūkō-zan Shōbō-in)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kagiwada|first=Seiko|date=2012|title=両頭愛染曼荼羅の成立に関する一考察 (The Formation of the Mandala of Double-Headed Aizen)|url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ibk/60/2/60_KJ00007978240/_article/-char/en|journal=Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies (Indogaku Bukkyōgaku Kenkyū)|language=ja|volume=60|issue=2|pages=615–618|doi=10.4259/ibk.60.2_615|doi-access=free}}</ref>

=== Acolytes ===
[[File:Blue Fudo ShorenIn.JPG|left|thumb|305x305px|The 'Blue Acala' (青不動, ''Ao-Fudō'') of [[Shōren-in]] in Kyoto, showing Acala with his two attendants Kiṃkara (Kongara, right) and Ceṭaka (Seitaka, left)]]
Acala is sometimes described as having a retinue of acolytes, the number of which vary between sources, usually two or eight but sometimes thirty-six or even forty-eight. These represent the elemental, untamed forces of nature that the ritual practitioner seeks to harness.<ref name="murakami2" /><ref name="faure152">{{Cite book|last=Faure|first=Bernard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UlkEEAAAQBAJ|title=The Fluid Pantheon: Gods of Medieval Japan, Volume 1|date=2015|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|pages=152–156|isbn=9780824857028|language=en}}</ref>

The two boy servants or ''dōji'' (童子) most commonly depicted in Japanese iconographic portrayals are {{nihongo|[[Kiṃkara]]|矜羯羅童子|Kongara-dōji}} and {{nihongo|[[Ceṭaka]]|吒迦童子|Seitaka-dōji}}, who also appear as the last two of the list of Acala's eight great ''dōji''.<ref name="murakami2" /><ref name="shincho2" /><ref name="faure152" /> Kiṃkara is depicted as white in color, with [[Namaste|his hands joined in respect]], while Ceṭaka is red-skinned and holds a vajra in his left hand and a vajra staff in his right hand. The two are said to symbolize both [[Dharma#Buddhism|Dharma-essence]] and ignorance, respectively, and is held to be in charge of good and evil.<ref name="faure152" />
[[File:Eight Attendants I Kongobuji.jpg|thumb|301x301px|Sculpture of four of Acala's eight acolytes by [[Unkei]] ([[Kongōbu-ji]], [[Mount Kōya]]). From left: Ceṭaka (Seitaka), Kiṃkara (Kongara), Matijvala (Ekō), and Matisādhu (Eki).]]
Kiṃkara and Ceṭaka are also sometimes interpreted as transformations or emanations of Acala himself. In a sense, they reflect Acala's original characterization as an attendant of Vairocana; indeed, their servile nature is reflected in their names (''Ceṭaka'' for instance means "slave") and their topknots, the mark of banished people and slaves. In other texts, they are also described as manifestations of [[Avalokiteśvara]] ([[Guanyin|Kannon]]) and Vajrapāṇi or as transformations of the dragon Kurikara, who is himself sometimes seen as one of Acala's various incarnations.<ref name="faure152" />

Two other notable ''dōji'' are Matijvala (恵光童子, ''Ekō-dōji'') and Matisādhu (恵喜童子, ''Eki-dōji''), the first two of Acala's eight great acolytes. Matijvala is depicted as white in color and holds a three-pronged vajra in his right hand and a lotus topped with a moon disk on his left, while Matisādhu is red and holds a trident in his right hand and a wish-fulfilling jewel (''[[Cintamani|cintāmaṇi]]'') on his left. The eight acolytes as a whole symbolize the eight directions, with Matijvala and Matisādhu representing east and south, respectively.<ref name="faure152" />