Group images of the bodhisattva Manjusri with attendants are based on the Flower Garland Sutra and the belief that Manjusri lived at Mount Wutai during the Tang dynasty. The iconography of such group images is thought to have been transmitted to Japan by Buddhist monks who visited Tang and Song dynasty China during the Heian period. The composition of existing examples in Japan is generally of Manjusri accompanied by four attendants, forming a pentad.
After their transmission from China, Manjusri pentads developed in a distinctive way in Japan. In Kamakura-period Nara, Manjusri came to be used as the main object of worship. While Manjusri usually wears Chinese-style clothes, in case of the pentads, where Manjusri serves as the principal image, Manjusri came to be portrayed with five topknots. In other words, the appearance of Manjusri was altered in Japan. Concerning the copying of Manjusri pentads, it appears that the Manjusri pentad at Abe Monjuin temple in Nara, which was carved in the early Kamakura period, was frequently copied by artisans carving sculptures for the Saidaiji Temple cult in Nara. Through these developments, Manjusri pentads attained a significant presence in the old capital of Nara during the Kamakura period.
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