365bet娱乐

-161-
Sa峁ａ弓hi's counterpart in Japan is H膩r墨ti, who is variously
known as Kariteema, Kishimojin or Kishibojin. She is generally
worshipped by the mothers. She is the benevolent deity of
the children. From the iconographic point of view H膩r墨ti
should always hold a pomegranate fruit in one of her hands.
Moreover, numerous children should stand around the goddess.
Sometimes she holds a few children in her lap. There are
different beliefs regarding the presence of pomegrante in her
hand. One of these beliefs is that the fruit has five hundred
seeds which symbolises the five hundred children of H膩r墨ti.
H膩riti waswitch and she used to devour all the children. But
by the kindness of Boddha, Hariti's evil nature was changed
and *ken she became a normal lady and then she was raised to
the status of a goddess. She is also regarded as the accessory
deity of Sarasvati. The representation of H膩r墨ti is very few
in Japan.
a
One of the best representations of Hariti in Japan
is to be seen along with a painting of Benzai-ten that appear
on the back wall of a Zushi or miniature shrine (called
Kichij艒-ten ten Zushi) (P1XXV||,Fig.1. ). The painting is
preserved in the Tokyo University of Arts. In this painting,
the goddess is seated on a dais with two children on her lap.
Two other children are sitting and standing beside her. There
is a pomegranate fruit in her right hand.
Another interesting painted representation of H盲riti
can be seen in the Daigo-ji temple of Kyoto. Here the goddess
holds in her right hand two pomegranates with the twig of the