Hell Scroll (Nara National Museum)

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is a scroll depicting seven out of the sixteen lesser hells presented in Kisekyō ("Sutra of the World Arising"). Six of the paintings are accompanied by text, which all begin with the phrase "There is yet another hell", following a description of what the sinners depicted did to end up in this particular hell.

The seven hells depicted are:

1. the Hell of Excrement (ja: , )
2. the Hell of Measures (, )
3. the Hell of the Iron Mortar (, )
4. the Hell of the Flaming Rooster (, )
5. the Hell of the Black Sand Cloud (, )
6. the Hell of Pus and Blood (, )
7. the Hell of Foxes and Wolves (, )

It is considered likely that the scroll corresponds to the Paintings of the Six Paths, commissioned by Emperor Goshirakawa in the 12th century. This handscroll was preserved in Daishō-in in Higashiokubo, Tokyo until the Meiji period, when it came into the hands of the Hara family of Kanagawa, later ending up in the possession of the Japanese government.

See also

• Naraka (Buddhism)
• List of National Treasures of Japan (paintings)

External links

• Tokyo National Museum's page on the scrolls, with pictures and descriptions of the individual paintings

References

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