Main Shrine at Kumano, from the Kumano Mandala, a set of three paintings

Kumano, south of present-day Nara, has been an important religious site and pilgrimage destination from ancient times.

This painting with F1958.18 and F1958.19, form a late medieval pilgrimage mandala representing the three sites--Nachi, Nimasu Shrine, and Hayatama Shrine--often referred to collectively as the Kumano Shrine. While a mandala is generally thought of as a symmetrically arranged diagram used as a meditation reference, sacred topography such as Kumano was also frequently accorded the status of mandala. Journeys through such places whether as represented in a painting or in actual pilgrimage, are thought by many to have beneficial effects.

Japanese Buddhism incorporated indigenous religious beliefs into a wider Buddhist cosmology in a respectful but subsidiary role. The style of Buddhist painting seen here, produced from the second half of the thirteenth century, combines representation of sites and gods sacred to Shinto belief with references to corresponding Buddhist deities.

This painting was produced during the height of Kumano's popularity as a pilgrimage site. Diaries written at that time by imperial and aristocratic visitors contain many references to the journey from Kyoto to Kumano. The painting's high quality suggests the patronage of an important devotee.