Five-pronged Vajra Bell (Gokorei)
1300–1333
- Medium
- gilt bronze
- Dimensions
- height: 16.7 cm (6 9/16 in.); Diameter: 7.5 cm (2 15/16 in.)
- Genre
- Metalwork
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art
Styles
Tags
Japan, Kamakura period (1185–1333)
About
The five prongs of this bell symbolize the Buddhist “Five Perfections”—generosity, morality, patience, perseverance, and concentration. The mouth of the bell symbolizes the “Sixth Perfection” of wisdom. The bell was used in Japanese Esoteric Buddhist rituals along with vajra pestles, or kongōsho.