Deva (ten) or guardian deity
Mawaranyo
摩和羅女
A deity name listed as one of the Twenty-Eight Attendants. The Twenty-Eight Attendants (Nijūhachi Bushū) are a group that protects Senju Kannon (the Thousand-Armed Kannon) and the people who have faith in its teaching.
This introduction is based on materials published by shrines, temples, and schools, starting with Shōhōin. It is summarized within the scope of the beliefs and traditions those materials convey, and does not present explanations or customs common to all schools, shrines, and temples.
English pages are the site’s own translations of its Japanese pages. The sources cited are in Japanese. 日本語で読む
The name and role of Mawaranyo
A deity name listed as one of the Twenty-Eight Attendants. The text has no explanation other than the name and its reading, and details such as form and attributes cannot be confirmed from this source.
Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院
A guardian group supporting Senju Kannon's salvation
The Twenty-Eight Attendants are deities who protect Senju Kannon and the people who have faith in its teaching. The Four Heavenly Kings, deities of Indian origin and others form a group as protectors of Buddhism. At Sanjūsangen-dō they are described as attendants and companions of Senju Kannon.
Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院・蓮華王院 三十三間堂
Names and forms differ by sutra
The makeup of the Twenty-Eight Attendants and the forms of their images differ depending on the scriptural account. Because deities of the same name also appear in other groups of guardian deities, here their "role as members of the Twenty-Eight Attendants" is introduced separately from the character handed down for each individual. The images at Sanjūsangen-dō and the iconographic materials of Shōhōin are not treated as the same arrangement or forms.
Source: 蓮華王院 三十三間堂・飛不動尊 正宝院
Protecting those who have faith in Kannon from calamity
Kiyomizu-dera explains the role of the Twenty-Eight Attendants as protecting from calamity those who keep Senju Kannon in mind and call its name. Deities connected with many worlds, such as the sea and the land, together support Kannon's salvation. This is a belief common to the Twenty-Eight Attendants as a whole; it does not assign the fulfillment of a separate wish to each individual deity.
Source: 音羽山 清水寺
Related kami and buddhas
Sources (in Japanese)
- 飛不動尊 正宝院「仏様の世界：摩和羅女」（2026-10-14 確認）
- 飛不動尊 正宝院「仏様の世界：目次」（2026-10-14 確認）
- 飛不動尊 正宝院「仏様の世界：二十八部衆」（2026-10-14 確認）
- 蓮華王院 三十三間堂「二十八部衆像」（2026-10-15 確認）
- 音羽山 清水寺「眷属 二十八部衆」（2026-10-17 確認）