Yakushi Triad

Momoyama Period, 1603
To-ji Temple
Kyoto, Japan

This statue of Yakushi, the Buddha of Healing, replaces a Heian original lost in the fire of 1486. Located in the Kondo of the temple, it is flanked by statues of Nikko (Sunlight Bodhisattva) and Gakko (Moonlight Bodhisattva). Underneath the platform are statues of the 12 Godly Generals. The 12 Generals are protectors of Buddhism. They have symbolic relationships to Yakushi's 12 Vows, and also to the zodiac, such that a person's birth sign places him under the protection of the corresponding General.