Editing Acala (section)

=== 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" />