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Kukai

(Encyclopedia)Kukai or Kobo-Daishi ko͞oˈkī, kōˈbō-dīˈshē [key], 774–835, Japanese priest, scholar, and artist, founder of the Shingon or “True Word” sect of Buddhism. Of aristocratic birth, he studie...

Kobo-Daishi

(Encyclopedia)Kobo-Daishi: see Kukai.

Kawasaki

(Encyclopedia)Kawasaki käwäˈsäkē [key], city (1990 pop. 1,173,603), Kanagawa prefecture, central Honshu, Japan, on Tokyo Bay. Located in the Tokyo-Yokohama industrial area, it has steel mills, shipyards, oil r...

mandala

(Encyclopedia)mandala mŭnˈdələ [key], [Skt.,=circular, round] a concentric diagram having spiritual and ritual significance in Hindu and Buddhist Tantrism. The mandala may have derived from the circular stupa a...

calligraphy

(Encyclopedia)calligraphy kəlĭgˈrəfē [key] [Gr.,=beautiful writing], skilled penmanship practiced as a fine art. See also inscription; paleography. The art of calligraphy is also practiced with the limited l...

Tantra

(Encyclopedia)Tantra tŭnˈtrə [key], in both Hinduism and Buddhism, esoteric tradition of ritual and yoga known for elaborate use of mantra, or symbolic speech, and mandala, or symbolic diagrams; the importance o...