Taima mandala

It depicts Sukhavati, the western Pure Land, with the Buddha Amitābha (Japanese: Amida) in the center.

According to popular legend, Chūjō-hime witnessed the creation of the mandala, crafted from fibers of lotus stems by two nuns who were thought to be Amida and Kannon in disguise.

The imagery on the painting is largely based on the Sutra of the Contemplation of Amitayus, and has been the subject of several doctrinal commentaries in Japanese Buddhism.

The central image, called the Court of Essential Doctrine,[1] depicts the Amida Buddha surrounded by his worshippers that have reached enlightenment, buildings, and the land that exists in his Paradise.

Each of these buildings, as well as the trees in the garden, are made of the seven precious substances–gold, silver, lapis lazuli, rock crystal, coral, agate, and mother-of-pearl.

The walls are either curtained or door panels to define the rooms or to enclose the building.

The left border (the Court of Prefatory Legend) shows, first, the discovery of the Sutra on Vulture Peak at the top, and then illustrates the introduction of the Sutra, from the bottom upward: Prince Ajasatru's temptation, the imprisonment of his father and then his mother, and Queen Vaidehi's prayers answered by Shakyamuni Buddha.

Shakyamuni transmits the knowledge of the Pure Land to his disciple in the last panel, second from the top.

Queen Vaidehi was given the task to meditate and visualize the elements that represented of the western paradise, illustrated in the right border.

The Small Body of Amida[4] The bottom border illustrate the nine levels of birth.

[6] Surrounding the borders to the ends of the hanging scroll are designs of lotus flowers.

Each lotus is painted with small and careful details to help make the images stand out.