Ugajin (宇賀神) is a harvest and fertility kami of Japanese mythology.[1][2] Ugajin is represented both as a male and a female, and is often depicted with the body of a snake and the head of a bearded man, for the masculine variant,[1] or the head of a woman, for the female variant. In Tendai Buddhism Ugajin was syncretically fused with Buddhist goddess Benzaiten, which became known as Uga Benzaiten or Uga Benten.[3] The goddess sometimes carries on her head Ugajin's effigy.
In this limited sense, the kami is part of the Japanese Buddhist pantheon.
Gallery edit
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Ugajin's feminine form -
Statue of Benzaiten, a torii and a male Ugajin visible on her head (whose coiled serpent body is barely visible behind her crown) -
Wooden snake at Zeniarai Benzaiten Ugafuku Shrine
See also edit
References edit
- ^ a b Watsky, Andrew Mark. (2004). Chikubushima: Deploying the Sacred Arts in Momoyama Japan, p. 233, at Google Books
- ^ Handbook of Japanese mythology by Michael Ashkenazi p. 126
- ^ Itō, Satoshi: "Ugajin". Encyclopedia of Shinto, Kokugakuin University, retrieved on August 15, 2011
External links edit
Media related to Ugajin at Wikimedia Commons
