page_title: Acala
section_title: Worship
hierarchical_section_title: Acala / Japan / Worship
caption_attribution_description: English: Acala at Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum, Singapore.
context_page_description: Acala or Achala is a dharmapala, prominent in Vajrayana Buddhism and East Asian Buddhism. He is classed among the Wisdom Kings and is preeminent among the Five Wisdom Kings of the Womb Realm. Accordingly, his figure occupies an important hierarchical position in the Mandala of the Two Realms.
  In China, he is known through esoteric Tangmi traditions as Budong Mingwang. In Japan, he is known as Fudō Myōō, which is the on'yomi reading of his Chinese name. Acala is especially important in Japanese Buddhism, where he is venerated in the Shingon, Tendai, Zen, and Nichiren sects, as well as in Shugendō. He is also highly revered among some Yakuza members, who often draw on his intense facial expression and demeanor.
  In later Tantric scriptures, the epithet Caṇḍaroṣaṇa and Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa became more common, and he is known as such in countries like Nepal and Tibet.
context_section_description: In Japan, Acala became a focus of worship in his own right, and became installed as the main deity at temples and outdoor shrines. A famous example is the Narita Fudō-dō, a Shingon subsect temple at Narita-san.
  In Shingon Buddhism, Acala's mantra is directly taken from Sanskrit, and is pronounced in Japanese as "Nōmaku samanda bazaradan sendamakaroshada sohataya hun tarata kan man".
  At temples dedicated to Acala, priests perform the Fudō-hō (不動法), or ritual service to enlist the deity's power of purification to benefit the faithful. This rite routinely involves the use of the Homa ritual (護摩, goma) as a purification tool.
  Lay persons or monks in yamabushi gear who go into rigorous training outdoors in the mountains often pray to small Acala statues or portable talismans that serve as his honzon. This element of yamabushi training, known as Shugendō, predates the introduction of Acala to Japan. At this time, figures such as the Zaō Gongen (蔵王権現), who appeared before the sect's founder, En no Gyōja, or the Vairocana, were commonly worshiped. Once Acala was added to list of deities typically enshrined by the yamabushi monks, his images were either portable, or installed in hokora (outdoor shrines). These statues would often be placed near waterfalls (a common training ground), deep in the mountains and in caves.
  Acala also tops the list of Thirteen Buddhas. Thus Shingon Buddhist mourners assign Fudō to the first seven days of service. The first week is an important observance, but perhaps not as much as the observance of "seven times seven days" (i.e. 49 days) signifying the end of the "intermediate state" (bardo).
  Literature on Shingon Buddhist ritual will explain that Sanskrit "seed syllables", mantras and mudras are attendant to each of the Buddhas for each observance period. But the scholarly consensus seems to be that invocation of the "Thirteen Buddhas" had evolved later, around the 14th century and became widespread by the following century, so it's doubtful that this practice was part of Kūkai's original teachings.
caption: Acala at Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum, Singapore
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