Monster mummies in Japan's Buddhist temples
Pink Tentacle has a long photo-essay about monster mummies stored in Japan's Buddhist temples and museums. Shown above: the mummified head of a three-faced demon (the third face is behind the other two faces)
It might seem odd that Buddhist temples in Japan house the occasional stray mummified demon (oni), but then again it probably makes sense to keep them off the streets and under the watchful eye of a priest.Zengyōji (善行寺) temple in the city of Kanazawa (Ishikawa prefecture) is home to the mummified head of a three-faced demon. Legend has it that a resident priest discovered the mummy in a temple storage chamber in the early 18th century. Imagine his surprise.
Nobody knows where the demon head came from, nor how or why it ended up in storage.
The mummified head has two overlapping faces up front, with another one (resembling that of a kappa) situated in back. The temple puts the head on public display each year around the spring equinox.
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Thanks, now you've blown my image of Japanese Buddhist monks being intellectuals concerned only with "higher" abstract truths. Now I realize they're just a bunch of wackos with too much time on their hands! Tibet monks with their silly Yeti scalps, now this! ;)
fake
If it's not fake then it's some poor bunch of conjoined guys that have their mummified skulls sitting in a buddist temple with the living believing they are demons.
if there's an after life then that sucks.
I love this article because it confirms the craziness of the life we lead here. My best friend's husband is from a temple family and he would tell her these stories of digging through the treasure rooms of the temple looking for hidden birthday presents and stumbling into some of these monsters (especially the self-mummified monks). We swore he was kind of pulling our leg about some of the crazier stuff, or as a child he'd kind of mentally exaggerated what he saw, but yeah, this is no joke. The monsters and things of course are probably human creations but the self preserved mummies seem culturally legit to me.
She was me freshman English teacher.
This reminds me of a four-eyed icon of the Trinity I saw in Provins.
It's not conjoined triplets.
Look at the teeth.
Defiantly an early Bush prototype.
What do our friends at Cryptomundo have to say about the demon?
I have no idea if that demon skull is congenital or manufactured. All I know is that now I want to go home and play Oni.
I might believe it. I'm not sure if I believe in demons, but I for sure believe in ghosts. Not that I'm saying this is a ghost, but Japan is the most haunted place on Earth, so if there ever was something weird nobody can seem to warp their mind around, it would be from there.
I'm not sure man. Just cause they didn't have proper dentistry back then doesn't mean it isn't congenital.
Is anyone an orthodontist on here? Because I'm just making guesses.
damn, that's down the street. gonna have to take a trip soon.
Here's another, slightly clearer, pic I took of the baby demon photo in Rakanji temple. If you can read Japanese [I can't, despite living here] there's a bit of a writeup below it...
http://picasaweb.google.com/Rob.G.Pugh/20080927#5250941265720086482
Rob, the Japanese says:
"Exhibit of what was said to be a mummified baby demon. Lost in the 1943 fire.
*Photograph is a copy of a period postcard."
they are conjoined twins!