Sunday, August 23, 2009

Wish plaques Ema

Wish plaques "ema"
Ema plaques are used by temple worshippers to write wishes.

ema plaques
On the Nara period it was believed that the god shinme rode a horse, according to this belif, horses were given to the temple as offering to shinme. Due to the prohibitive cost of a horse, some worshipers offered paper and wood horses figures. Later on the Heian period wooden plaques with a horse’s picture on it replaced the figures.

ema at Tokyo daibutsu
Recently ema plaques display a variety of pictures representing the visited temple gods and protection.

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