SHINGON ALTAR
The Shingon altar is composed of pieces from a larger Japanese Temple put together by Maxwell Sommerville in 1899. In his guidebook to the Temple, he wrote: “In almost all places of Buddhist worship in East India, Burma, Thailand, China, Korea, Japan, and Tibet, the various objects, divinities in bronze, stone or wood, bells, drums, lanterns and other temple paraphernalia may be seen which centuries ago were procured from neighboring countries. In some instances these acquisitions were presented by the faithful of some other Asian nation desiring to encourage the establishment of their religion in new territory.” The temple served as a space for local Buddhists to perform their accustomed acts of devotion. The Buddha who sits in the center of the current altar was constructed by Thai craftsmen specifically for this Buddhism exhibit. It is an appropriate feature given the elasticity of Buddhism to adapt to the cultures with which it came into contact over the centuries.
The Shingon altar is composed of pieces from a larger Japanese Temple put together by Maxwell Sommerville in 1899. In his guidebook to the Temple, he wrote: “In almost all places of Buddhist worship in East India, Burma, Thailand, China, Korea, Japan, and Tibet, the various objects, divinities in bronze, stone or wood, bells, drums, lanterns and other temple paraphernalia may be seen which centuries ago were procured from neighboring countries. In some instances these acquisitions were presented by the faithful of some other Asian nation desiring to encourage the establishment of their religion in new territory.” The temple served as a space for local Buddhists to perform their accustomed acts of devotion. The Buddha who sits in the center of the current altar was constructed by Thai craftsmen specifically for this Buddhism exhibit. It is an appropriate feature given the elasticity of Buddhism to adapt to the cultures with which it came into contact over the centuries.
