Ugajin
From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Ugajin (宇賀神?) is harvest and fertility kami of Japanese Mythology.[1][2] Ugajin is represented both as a male and a female, and is often depicted with the body of a snake and the head of a bearded man, for the masculine variant,[1] or the head of a woman, for the female variant. In Tendai Buddhism Ugajin was syncretically fused with Buddhist goddess Benzaiten, which became known as Uga Benzaiten or Uga Benten.[3] The goddess sometimes carries on her head Ugajin's effigy.
In this limited sense, the kami is part of the Japanese Buddhist pantheon.
Gallery
-
Ugajin's feminine form
-
Statue of Benzaiten, a torii and a male Ugajin visible on her head (whose coiled serpent body is barely visible behind her crown)
-
Wooden snake at Zeniarai Benzaiten Ugafuku Shrine
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Watsky, Andrew Mark. (2004). Chikubushima: Deploying the Sacred Arts in Momoyama Japan, p. 233., p. 233, at Google Books
- ↑ Handbook of Japanese mythology by Michael Ashkenazi p.126
- ↑ Itō, Satoshi: "Ugajin". Encyclopedia of Shinto, Kokugakuin University, retrieved on August 15, 2011
| Buddhas (Nyorai-bu) |
 |
|
|---|---|---|
| Bodhisattvas (Bosatsu-bu) |
||
| Wisdom Kings (Myōō-bu) |
||
| Heavenly deities (Ten-bu) |
||
| Circumstantial appearances (Suijakushin-bu) |
||
| Religious masters (Kōsō・Soshi-bu) |
||
| Mythic texts |
  |
|
|---|---|---|
| Japanese creation myth | ||
| Takamagahara mythology | ||
| Izumo mythology | ||
| Hyūga mythology | ||
| Human age | ||
| Mythical locations | ||
| Major Buddhist figures | ||
| Seven Lucky Gods | ||
