The Study On The Cult Of Narayan At Shaolin Temple

The current guardian god of Shaolin Temple is Kinnara,who believes in King Kinnara.But in fact,before the end of the Ming Dynasty,the guardian god of Shaolin Temple’s Galan was Narayan.In the middle of the Ming Dynasty,there were also inscriptions about Narayan in Shaolin Temple.This inscription is also one of the existing relevant literature materials of Shaolin Temple."Narayan" appeared in the text for the last time,and since then it has become "Kinnara".The Narayan image first appeared in Shaolin Temple during the Tang Dynasty,appearing in opposition to Kapila on both sides of the lintel of the Shakyamuni Pagoda in Shaolin Temple,continuing the tradition of this combination pattern in the Henan region.During the Jin Dynasty,Narayan began to appear independently in the inscriptions of Shaolin Temple,holding a Vajra pestle.From the inscriptions,it can be seen that Shaolin Temple believed in Narayan holding the Vajra God at this time.During the Ming Dynasty,the image of Narayan in the inscriptions changed from holding a diamond pestle to holding a long stick.This article examines the evolution of Narayan’s image,combined with the development background of Shaolin Temple,to study the significance of the evolution of Narayan’s image in Shaolin Temple,and to analyze the reasons for the changes in Narayan’s faith in Shaolin Temple.Firstly,this article introduces the basic overview of Shaolin Temple,mainly explaining its geographical location,historical evolution,and the development process of Shaolin inscriptions.It also reads and analyzes the inscriptions and statues of the two Tongnarayan themed inscriptions in Shaolin Temple.Secondly,sort out the Narayan characters in the text to understand the early Narayan deity and image.At the same time,by sorting out the Naroyan images in China,it was found that the Naroyan images,which first appeared in Henan and had clear inscriptions,have shown significant differences from the descriptions of Naroyan images in the classics.Then,through image comparison,it was found that the Narayan images had undergone changes in Shaolin Temple.Based on the historical development of Shaolin Temple,the reasons for the changes in Narayan images were analyzed.Finally,this article combines the evolution of the Narayan image of Shaolin Temple to sort out the changes in the Narayan faith of Shaolin Temple,and analyzes and summarizes the underlying reasons for the changes.The Narayan belief in Shaolin Temple has changed from the original Narayan belief in Vajra to the belief in King Kinnara in later generations,which is related to the historical development of Shaolin Temple.The image of Narayan in Shaolin Temple has also changed with the change of belief in Shaolin Temple,from the initial belief in Narayan God to obtaining divine power,to the later belief that King Kinnara is regarded as the martial saint of the source of Shaolin stick technique.