Taema

当麻 The Temple at Taema

1 Source and/or Related Material

Origin stories of the Taema/Taima Mandala

2 Author

Zeami

3 Repertoire

Kanze, Hōshō, Komparu, Kongō, Kita

4 Synopsis

A group of ecstatic Nembutsu preachers (waki, wakitsure) are only their way from the sacred mountains of Kumano (Wakayama) toward Taema Temple (Nara). On the way, they meet an old woman (maeshite) and a younger woman (maetsure) who tell them about the history of Taema Temple and its famous Mandala, a magical map of cosmic space. Long ago, Amida Buddha appeared in the form of a nun to the Princess Chūjō and showed her a vision of his Pure Land among the other cosmic realms, and she wove it into a tapestry with threads of lotus fiber. The women reveal that they are none other than the heroines of this story, then vanish in purple clouds. A pilgrim at the temple gate (ai) retells the story in plain speech. The preachers tell him about the two mysterious women they saw, and he says that they must have seen Princess Chūjō herself. Sure enough, Princess Chūjo (nochishite) appears in her true form, chants the Pure Land Sutra, dances in praise of Amida’s salvation, then disappears with the break of dawn.