Butsudan

A Butsudan (Japanese仏 坛) is a shrine at a Buddhist temple or monastery or a Buddhist family altar in Japanese homes for the documentation of connectedness with Buddhism and for the veneration of the ancestors and the recently deceased.

When someone dies, are the Buddhist priests to the deceased a new name, which is on a Ihai ( an ancestor tablets ) is recorded and placed in the Butsudan. The souls of the dead are made ​​offerings, such as rice or tea.

The Butsudan is the center of worship for the O -Bon, the annual festival of sacrifice.

The Shrine consists usually of a lockable with double doors shrine. This can gilded carving, but also made ​​of plastic. In addition to a picture or a figure of Buddha altar often contains a scroll with calligraphy ( for example, a Gohonzon in Nichiren Buddhism ), photos, plaques with the names of dead people and objects that are reminiscent of the deceased.

Today, many Japanese homes do not have a niche for a shrine full size, or twin children inherit a shrine of both paternal and maternal side. So it is becoming more common to get rid of the old shrines. The shrine is broken down and passed a temple, which burns the shrines together in a ceremony. Small Butsudan of the size of a shoebox are gaining in popularity because they can be set up on a shelf or in a closet.

Shinto altars in Japan hot Kamidana. The Tokonoma, a wall niche for decorations is also Buddhist origin.

Bibliography

• Buckley, Sandra (2002) " Butsudan and Kamidana " in Buckley, Sandra ( Ed. ) Encyclopedia of Contemporary Japanese Culture, pp. 56-57. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-14344-6.
• Rambelli, Fabio ( 2010). Home Buddhas: Historical Processes and Modes of Representation of the Sacred in the Japanese Buddhist altar Family, Japanese Religions 35 (1-2), 63-86