Mansennin

The name and role of Mansennin

Listed as one of the Twenty-Eight Attendants. It is described as forming the fear-dispelling mudra (semui-in) with the right hand and holding a halberd (geki) in the left. A note explains that the geki is a weapon unique to China that combines a spear and a dagger-axe.

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

• Nijūhachi Bushū二十八部衆