EXECERPT FROM THIS BOOK: A HANDBOOK FOR TRAVELLERS IN JAPAN (INCLUDING FORMOSA), BY BASIL CHAMBERLAIN,F.R.G.S. AND W.B. MASON, CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ROYAL SCOTTISH GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY AND LATE OF THE IMPERIAL JAPANESE DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS. WITH THIRTY MAPS AND PLANS AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS. NINTH EDITION, REVISED THROUGHOUT. LONDON. JOHN MURRAY, ALLEMARLE STREET. YOKOHAMA, SHANGHAI,- KELLY&WALSH, LIMITED-HONKONG, SINGAPORE.1913
AMIDA
Sanskrit -Amitabha a powerful deity dwelling in a lovely paradise to the west
Originally Amida was an abstrac tion the ideal of boundless light.His image may generally be recognised by the hands lying on the lap with the thumbs placed end to end.
Very often too the halo gokō forms a background not only to the head but to the entire body and is then termed funa gokō from its resemblance in shape to a boat.
The spot on the forehead is emblematical of wisdom. The great image Daibutsu at Kamakura represents this deity Kwannon and Daiseishi are often represented as followers of Amida
The name Amida is sometimes shortened to Mida