How does Tenjukoku Shūchō Mandala elucidate its Creation?
In the Jōgū Shōtoku Hōō Teisetsu, it is recorded that Tachibana no Ōiratsume, one of the widows of Prince Shōtoku, commissioned the mandala after her husband's death, to represent the heavenly realm to which he had departed so that she could envision his afterlife. The artwork was created by maidservants of the Imperial Court, with the permission of the Empress Suiko. The original was stitched in silk on a series of large square curtains, approximately 5 metres (16 ft) across, but only a small portion of this, measuring approximately 89 centimetres (35 in) by 83 centimetres (33 in), still survives.
Jōgū Shōtoku Hōō Teisetsu Prince Shōtoku mandala