A ceremony held every year to commemorate Buddha's birthday,
April 8th, where a small statue of Buddha is sprinkled with scented
water or hydrangea tea. The ceremony recreates a legend that when
the Buddha was born he was sprinkled with perfume by the dragon god
(ryuuou 竜王
. A small
shrine, known as the hanamidou 花御堂 is set up and decorated with
flowers. A small image of the Buddha in the form of a child as he
appeared at birth (tanjoubutsu 誕生仏, is placed
on a wide, shallow metal bowl, known as the kanbutsu-ban 潅仏盤. The
statue of Buddha has the right hand held up, and the left hand
pointing down, depicting the moment when Buddha took seven steps
forward and pronounced the words 'Tenjou tenga yuiga dokuson (tian
shang, tian xia, wei wo du jun' (I alone am honored in heaven and
on earth). Visitors to the temple where the ceremony is performed
use a small ladle to sprinkle scented water over the top of the
statue. The kanbutsu-e ceremony was brought to Japan from China,
and the first recorded celebration in Japan was at Gankouji 元興寺 in
Nara in 606. It spread to become a regular part of Buddhist
tradition in other temples, the court, and among ordinary citizens.
A famous Kanbutsu-ban decorated with hunting scenes is preserved in
Nara's Toudaiji 東大寺. It dates from the Nara Period and shows
outstanding metal craftsmanship.
Did he said that? sorry for the jap chars.. see the original
page here.
http://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/k/kanbutsue.htm
