Embodying Female Worship in 12th-Century Japan: A New Altar Plan for the Daigoji Yakushi Hall

In the early twelfth century, the Kyoto-based temple Daigoji underwent a major restoration project that included the reconstruction of a worship hall dedicated to the Medicine Buddha, Yakushi Nyorai (Skt. Bhaiṣajyaguru). The original structure was established by imperial decree in 913, at which point it enshrined a sculptural triad of Yakushi Nyorai and two attendants. Following its restoration, the Yakushi Hall’s altar program expanded to include at least two twelfth-century sculptures of deities with no clearly stated connection to the hall’s original use. Delving into votive documents, ritual records, and legendary accounts, this paper investigates the ritual function of these more recent additions to the Yakushi Hall: a sculpture of Kichijōten (Skt. Lakṣmī) and one of Enmaten (Skt. Yama). Though modern scholarship largely addresses this atypical grouping as coincidental, this analysis yields evidence that Daigoji’s abbot Jōkai (1074–1149) enshrined these icons in connection to obstetric rituals that utilized Daigoji’s healing spring water, Daigosui. By examining twelfth-century worship of the Kichijōten and Enmaten, this paper reveals that each of the Yakushi Hall’s icons represent deities worshiped in imperial rituals for safe birth. This development suggests that Jōkai intended to cultivate support from imperial women by enshrining deities with a close link to female worship. Moreover, this paper sheds light on Jōkai’s efforts to localize these practices at Daigoji by linking Kichijōten to the temple’s sacred spring and the dragon deity believed to embody it. This paper contributes to our understanding of the shifting role of imperial women in twelfth-century Japanese ritual culture, highlighting their active participation in developing ritual culture.