Description

At the center sits Kōbō Daishi in a brown monk's robe on a low bench, holding the vajra in one hand and the prayer beads in the other. Above him spreads a colored canopy, its lotus medallions inscribed with the Siddham seed syllables of the accompanying deities. In front of the bench are placed a pair of sandals and a water jug.

The entire remaining surface is covered edge to edge with black calligraphy and red stamps from the individual pilgrimage stations. Among the entries, designations such as Shikoku and Kōyasan can be discerned, which clearly identifies the scroll as belonging to the Pilgrimage Scroll of the 88 Shikoku Temples with Kōyasan, the circuit traditionally ending on Kōyasan. The colored lotus medallions above the canopy are carefully painted and clearly set the center apart from the dense field of script.

Such a Nōkyōjiku is created over the entire course of a pilgrimage: at each station, the temples enter their names and seals. Executed on silk, this piece is thus not a mere pictorial motif, but the personal testimony of a fully completed pilgrimage and an impressive document of Japanese piety.