Welcoming Descent of Amitâbha Buddha (Amida Nyorai) flanked by the Bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara (Kannon Bosatsu) and Mahâsthâmaprâpta (Seishi Bosatsu); Amida sanzon raigō zu

This hanging scroll depicts a standing Buddha Amitabha (Jp. Amida Nyorai) at center with magnificent golden rays of light emanating from his halo, accompanied by two attendant bodhisattvas: Avalokitesvara (Jp. Kannon Bosatsu) at the viewer’s right and Mahasthamaprapta (Jp. Seishi Bosatsu) at the left. Each figure stands facing the right in three-quarter view; each is perched atop a pair of lotuses held aloft by clouds that carry the deities in a slight downward direction, from upper left to lower right. Painted predominantly in gold pigment on dyed silk, with just a few touches of ink and color to highlight facial accents on the Buddha and the bodhisattvas' jewels and scarves, the scene illustrates a raigō, or “welcoming descent” scene in which Amitabha descends from his celestial realm in order to receive the soul of a devotee and transport it to the Western Pure Land—a distant paradise believed to provide the ideal conditions for attaining enlightenment. The resplendent but empty lotus seat carried by Avalokitesvara in the lower right of this painting is the vehicle intended to carry the soul of the believer to the Western Pure Land.