Ueno: Ningyō kuyō

On the 25th of September I ventured into Kūkai’s World: it was the last day of an exhibition called Kūkai to Mikkyō bijutsuten 空海と美術展 in one of the large buildings situated in Ueno -park上野公園 and I felt this was an excellent opportunity to get some input for my research. The exhibition was rather impressive, but since it was the last day, I got caught in the stream of visitors and soon arrived at the exit without having the time to carefully examine every object.

On my way out of the park I was lucky enough to encounter something even more relevant for my research. When I passed by the Kiyomizu Kannondō 清水観音堂 (I visited the main temple a few years ago in Kyōto, but there is a branch located in Ueno-park as well).  I saw preparations being made for a ceremony so I decided to stick around. A fellow spectator was kindly enough to explain me a thing or two: the ceremony, which is called Ningyō kuyō人形供養, basically consists of the ritual burning of dolls. These dolls are generally donated to the temple by women who have become a mother in the past year.  They (some of them) consider their newly born to be a gift from Kannon 観音(Avalokiteśvara अवलोकितेश्वर) who heard their prayers in which they expressed the desire to bear a child.