In China, Mārīcī is worshiped as both a Buddhist and
Taoist deity. She is highly revered in
Esoteric Buddhism. She is often depicted with three eyes on each of her three faces and four arms on each side of her body. Two of her hands are held together, and the other six hold a sun, moon, bell, golden seal, bow, and halberd. She is either standing or sitting on a
lotus or pig, or on a lotus on top of seven pigs. She is celebrated on the 9th day of the 9th lunar month. As one of the
Twenty-Four Devas, she is usually enshrined along with the other devas in the
Mahavira Hall of most Chinese Buddhist temples, flanking the central altar. in
Dazu District, Chongqing, China. Dated to the
Song dynasty (960–1279). Mārīcī is sometimes considered an incarnation of the
Bodhisattva Cundī, with whom she shares similar iconography. She is also worshiped as the goddess of light and the guardian of all nations, whom she protects from the fury of war. In Taoism,
Doumu remains a popular deity and is often referred to as the
Queen of Heaven () and is widely worshiped as the Goddess of
Beidou (the Chinese equivalent of
Ursa Major except that it also includes 2 "attendant" stars). She is also revered as the mother of the
Nine Emperor Gods who are represented by the nine stars in the Beidou constellation. Legend has it that a queen bathed in a pond one spring day. Upon entering the bath, she suddenly felt "moved," and nine lotus buds rose from the pond. Each of these lotus buds opened to reveal a star, which became the Beidou constellation. She is also identified with Cundi and with Mahēśvarī, the wife of Maheśvara, and therefore also has the title Mātrikā (佛母 Fo mǔ), Mother of the Myriad Buddhas. (1368-1644) statue of Mārīcī as one of the
Twenty-Four Devas of
Chinese Buddhism at
Shanhua Temple in
Datong,
China She is worshiped today in Taoist temples like the
White Cloud Temple and the
Tou Mu Kung Temple which have both Taoist and Buddhist influences. Doumu is chronicled in three canonical
Daozang texts, from which the above stories have been extracted. These three texts were compiled during the Song-Yuan, according to each entry's preface in the Zhengtong daozang (Numbered according to Schipper, 1975). They are Dz 45: 'Yùqīng Wúshàng Língbǎo Zìrán Běidǒu Běnshēng Jīng' 玉清無上靈寶自然北斗本生經, True and Unsurpassed Lingbao Scripture from the Yuqing Heaven on the Spontaneous Origin of the Northern Dipper; Dz 621: Tàishàng Xuánlíng Dǒumǔ Dàshèng Yuánjūn Běnmìng Yánshēng Xīnjīng 太上玄靈斗姆大聖元君本命延生心經, Heart Scripture of Original Destiny and Extending Life of the Great Sagely Goddess Dipper Mother; and Dz 1452: Xiāntiān Dǒumǔ Qíngào Xuánkē 先天斗姆秦告玄科, Mysterious Rite for Petitioning the Dipper Mother of Former Heavens.
Japan with
swastikaMārīcī, an important deity in the
Shingon and
Tendai schools, was adopted by the
Samurai in the 8th century CE as a protector and
patron. While devotions to Mārīcī predate
Zen Buddhism, they appear to use a similar meditative model. It was thought that in a meditative state, warriors would lose interest in issues of victory and defeat or life and death, leading them to become better warriors. Devotion to Mārīcī was expected to achieve selflessness and compassion through mastery of the self. Some martial arts schools also worshiped Mārīcī as a guardian deity of their lineage. For example, the school of
Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū's blood pledge chart (Keppan) ordered the disciples to submit to
Futsunushi-no-Mikoto and accept Mārīcī's punishment if they acted against school rules.
Samurai would invoke Mārīcī at sunrise to achieve victory. Mārīcī was also worshiped in the later
Edo period as a goddess of wealth and prosperity by the merchant class, alongside
Daikokuten (大黒天) and
Benzaiten (弁財天) as part of a trio of "three deities" (三天
Santen). Her cult peaked in the Edo era but declined after that due to the dismantling of the feudal system, the abolishment of the samurai class, and the rising popularity of
Benzaiten, who, in modernity, has largely replaced her as an object of veneration.
Gallery File:华严寺大雄宝殿殿内明代诸天摩利支天造像.jpg|
Ming dynasty (1368-1644) statue of Mārīcī as one of the
Twenty-Four Devas of
Chinese Buddhism at
Huayan Temple in
Datong,
China File:Ding Guanpeng - Marici (Qing Dynasty).jpg|Marici by 丁觀鵬
Ding Guanpeng (Qing dynasty), 1767 File:Dinastia qing, marichi, dea buddista dell'alba, XVIII sec.JPG|Marichi statue, Qing dynasty,
Brooklyn Museum ==See also==