Dondo-yaki (New Year's Fire Festival) Expansion

Dondo-yaki (New Year's Fire Festival) 

どんど焼

Artist
ARAI, Kanpo
荒井 寛方
Birth Year
1878
Death Year
1945
Date
1929 
Technique, Material, Format
color on paper, hanging scroll 
Dimension
262.3 x 149.6 cm 
Category
Nihonga (Japanese-style Painting) 
Inventory Number
95-JP-001 

Dondo-yaki is a fire festival held annually around the 15th of January. It was a commonly celebrated event at which New Year’s decorations were burned and prayers were offered so that the coming year could be spent free of misfortune and injury. It is said that the ceremony spread from the Imperial Court to the general public during the Heian Period (794–1185), when fire was thought to purge impurities and exorcise evil spirits. The festival is known by different names in different regions. The vermilion flame in the center of this painting is drawn as if connecting decorative shapes, and the blaze is depicted majestically. The children looking up at the flames appear to be making Buddhist hand gestures and holding prayer beads. In fact, the entire work resembles an image of Buddha, with the large flame being the central figure and the children his acolytes. Arai Kanpo is known for having produced some outstanding works of Buddhist painting.
(YATSUYANAGI Sae)

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