Tengu
Tengu is a mountain priest spirit with a red face and a long nose. The worship of Tengu is connected with Buddhism and mountain worship.
With a red face and long nose, a formidable build and mysterious powers, the mountain priest spirit, Tengu, was both feared among the common people for causing mysterious disappearances and revered as the guardian of sacred mountains.
It was the mountain religion, Shugendo, that first included Tengu as a figurehead of the faith in the arts.
The chido mask and the karura (viper-eating bird) mask were both thought to ward off evil. They were frequently used during the Kagura and Dengaku (Shinto music and art) performances offered during Shusho-e (New Year’s Service) held at Shugendo mountain temples. The images of the large-nosed mountain-priest-Tengu and the bird-Tengu are thought to have originated from Yamabushi (mountain priests) wearing these masks. Over time, the Shugendo faith grew and many more sacred mountains were established. Different sacred mountains were paired with different Tengu to distinguish them from each other. This led to the emergence of the ‘Forty-Eight Great Tengu’, including Atagoyama Tarobo and Kuramayama Sojobo, on the sacred mountains of each area.
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京都の鞍馬寺には、源義経(幼名:牛若丸)が仏道修行をするとともに、僧正ヶ谷で天狗から兵法を教えられたとの伝説が残っており、牛若丸と天狗を描いた奉納絵馬などがある。
神奈川県南足柄市の最乗寺には、開山・建立にまつわる天狗伝説がある。天狗を寺の守護として祀っており、複数の天狗像がある。