Niōmon(Nhân vương môn,lit. Niō gate)is the Japanese name of aBuddhist templegate guarded by two wooden warriors calledNiō(lit. Two Kings). The gate is called Heng Ha Er Jiang ( ông hầm ông hừ ) in China and Geumgangmun (금강문) in Korea.[citation needed]The two statues are inside the two posts of the gate itself, one at the left, one at the right. Structurally, it usually is either arōmonor anijūmonand can measure either 5x2 or 3x2bays.[1]It can sometimes have just one story, as in the case ofAsakusa'sKaminarimon.[citation needed]
In a five-bay gate, the figures of the two Niō are usually enshrined in the two outer bays, but can be sometimes found also in the inner ones.[1]The statue on the right is called Naraen Kongō(Kia la duyên kim cương)and has his mouth open to utter the first letter of the Sanskrit Alpha bet, which is pronounced "a". The left statue is called Misshaku Kongō(Mật tích kim cương)and has his mouth closed, representing the last letter of the Sanskrit Alpha bet, pronounced "um". These two letters (a-unin Japanese) together symbolize the birth and death of all things.[2]
Misshaku Kongō
Naraen Kongō
