2-881-180 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Printed Konpon Darani Text, Nara period (710-794), c. 770. A darani was a short prayer, taken from sutras, or sacred writings. This darani was one of a million others, each one printed on paper and placed inside a miniature pagoda-shaped reliquary. It is believed that the Japanese Empress Shôtoku ordered these pagodas to be made as a prayer for peace after a violent rebellion in 764. The set is known as the Hyakumantô (one million pagodas).