Kalaviṅka ( sa, कलविङ्क ''kalaviṅka'';

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravāda'' Buddh ...

: karavika; ''Jiālíngpínqié''; ja, 迦陵頻伽, Karyōbinga, ko, 가릉빈가; vi, Ca Lăng Tần Già; my, ကရဝိက် karawik; th, การเวก, Malay: ''karawek'') is a fantastical immortal creature in

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

, with a human head and a bird's torso, with long flowing tail. The kalaviṅka is said to dwell in the Western pure land and reputed to preach the Dharma with its fine voice. It is said to sing while still unhatched within its eggshell. Its voice is a descriptor of the Buddha's voice. In Japanese text, it goes by various titles such as ,''Kojien'' dictionary, 2nd rev. ed., 1976, among others.

Edward H. Schafer Edward Hetsel Schafer (23 August 1913 – 9 February 1991) was an American historian, sinologist, and writer noted for his expertise on the Tang Dynasty, and was a professor of Chinese at University of California, Berkeley for 35 years. Sc ...

notes that in East Asian religious art the Kalaviṅka is often confused with the Kinnara, which is also a half-human half-bird hybrid mythical creature, but that the two are actually distinct and unrelated.

Depictions

In Burmese art

The karaweik is commonly used as a motif in traditional Burmese

royal barge A royal barge is a ceremonial barge that is used by a monarch for processions and transport on a body of water. Royal barges are currently used in monarchies such as the United Kingdom, Sweden and Thailand. Traditionally the use of royal barg ...

s. The Karaweik located on

Yangon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

's Kandawgyi Lake is an iconic reproduction of the karaweik royal barge.

In Chinese art

In Chinese mural art, it is portrayed as a human-headed, bird-bodied being. In the murals of

Dunhuang Dunhuang () is a county-level city in Northwestern Gansu Province, Western China. According to the 2010 Chinese census, the city has a population of 186,027, though 2019 estimates put the city's population at about 191,800. Dunhuang was a major s ...

(敦煌) they appear as figures both dancing and playing music. File:Yuan Kalavinka from Beijing.jpg, Grey pottery sculpture of a Kalaviṅka (missing its head) from the

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fif ...

capital of Dadu. File:Bird of Life (共命鸟), playing a panpipe.jpg, China, mid-Tang Dynasty. Arwork from the Dunhuang Grottos, Yulin Cave number 25 showing a Bird of Life (共命鸟), playing a panpipe. File:Bird of Life (共命鸟), playing a pipa, with dancer playing drum.jpg, China, mid-Tang Dynasty. Arwork from the Dunhuang Grottos, Yulin Cave number 25 showing a Bird of Life, playing a pipa, with a dancer playing drum

In Japanese art

A well-known example is the pair of kalaviṅka carved in openwork ('' sukashibori'') onto a Buddhist hanging ornament called the

keman (Japanese phoneticization from the Sanskrit ''kusumamālā'' "Garland of Flowers"), is a Buddhist ritual decoration, placed hanging on the beam of the inner sanctuary before the enshrined Buddha, in the main hall of the temple. (revised editio ...

, used in the golden hall of

Chūson-ji is a Buddhist temple in the town of Hiraizumi in southern Iwate Prefecture, Japan. It is the head temple of the Tendai sect in Tōhoku region of northern Honshu. The temple claims it was founded in 850 by Ennin, the third chief abbot of the sect ...

temple in

Iwate Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It is the second-largest Japanese prefecture at , with a population of 1,210,534 (as of October 1, 2020). Iwate Prefecture borders Aomori Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefectu ...

. The kalaviṅka from this ornament was commemorated on a 120-yen definitive stamp issued Nov. 1, 1962. The pose and general appearance on this piece is similar to the ones seen on the octagonal pedestal of the same temple (pictured right). * In another ''keman'' from the

Tokugawa period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional ''daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characterize ...

(see

page), the creatures stand more bipedally erect and hence more humanlike. *In the ancient courtly dance performance

Gagaku is a type of Japanese classical music that was historically used for imperial court music and dances. was developed as court music of the Kyoto Imperial Palace, and its near-current form was established in the Heian period (794-1185) around ...

- is the name of dance expressive of the ''kalaviṅka'', and is danced in pair with the , a dance of butterfly motif. The paired dancing is called . *A kalaviṅka painting by the brushstrokes of Hasegawa Tōhaku resides in

Daitoku-ji is a Buddhist temple, one of fourteen autonomous branches of the Rinzai school of Japanese Zen. It is located in Kita-ku, Kyoto, Japan. The "mountain name" ('' sangō'') by which it is known is . The Daitoku-ji temple complex today covers more ...

(Kyoto), inside the erected by tea-master Sen no Rikyū. *Painted on the ceiling of

Tōfuku-ji is a Buddhist temple in Higashiyama-ku in Kyoto, Japan. Tōfuku-ji takes its name from two temples in Nara, Tōdai-ji and Kōfuku-ji.Japan ReferenceTōfuku-ji/ref> It is one of the Kyoto ''Gozan'' or "five great Zen temples of Kyoto". Its ...

's Sanmon gate (Kyoto). *Painted on the ceiling of Myōshin-ji's Sanmon gate (Kyoto), normally not open to public. *The at 214 Mizusawa, in the former city of

Ikaho, Gunma was a town located in Kitagunma District, Gunma Prefecture, Japan. As of 2003, the town had an estimated population of 3,920 and a density of 175.63 persons per km2. The total area was 22.32 km2. On February 20, 2006, Ikaho, along with the vill ...

, Main Hall, front right ceiling, painting of a heavenly woman with eagle-like talons, anonymous. *Kawakami Sadayakko (

Sada Yacco Sada Yacco or was a Japanese geisha, actress and dancer. Early life Sadayakko Kawakami was born July 18, 1871, the youngest of twelve children. "My grandfather on my mother's side was an assistant magistrate and rather famous, I hear. Our house ...

), billed as the first overseas Japanese actress, late in her life, built a villa located at Unumahōshakujichō, Kagamihara, Gifu. The villa was christened by

Itō Hirobumi was a Japanese politician and statesman who served as the first Prime Minister of Japan. He was also a leading member of the '' genrō'', a group of senior statesmen that dictated Japanese policy during the Meiji era. A London-educated sa ...

, and the room with the Buddhist altar has a ceiling painting of kalaviṅka, which may be peered from outside (but access to premises only on Tuesday mornings).

In Tangut art

The Kalaviṅka is a common feature of Tangut art created during the

Western Xia The Western Xia or the Xi Xia (), officially the Great Xia (), also known as the Tangut Empire, and known as ''Mi-nyak''Stein (1972), pp. 70–71. to the Tanguts and Tibetans, was a Tangut-led Buddhist imperial dynasty of China tha ...

period (1038–1227). File:Glazed Kalavinka.jpg,

Glazed pottery Kalaviṅka-shaped architectural ornament. File:Grey Kalavinka.jpg,

Grey pottery Kalaviṅka-shaped architectural ornament.

In Hinduism

Kalavinka was born from one of the head of Vishvaroopacharya who was beheaded by Indra. Indra was angry when Vishwaroopacharya was found to be praying for demons instead of gods. Indra cut his three heads which respectively became Kalavinka, Kapinjala and Tittiri (all birds)

Popular culture

;(Manga) * ''

RG Veda is a manga created by Clamp, consisting of ten volumes in all. It was first published in Japan in 1989 as Clamp's debut manga. The story features elements of Vedic mythology; the title itself is pronounced ''Rigveda'', the name of one of t ...

'' by CLAMP: Ancient Hindu mythology theme. A sickly princess character. * by

Megumi Tachikawa is a Japanese '' shōjo'' manga artist, best known for the manga ''Saint Tail'', which was also adapted into an anime series. She made her manga debut in 1992 with ''16-sai no Tiara'', which was nominated for the 'New Face' manga award. Works *' ...

: based on Amano-Iwato legend. A sacred bird character. ;(Novels) * ' (ナイチンゲールの沈黙 Nightingale's silence) by , bestselling medical fiction author: * '(高丘親王航海記 Prince Takaoka's voyages) by

Tatsuhiko Shibusawa was the pen name of Shibusawa Tatsuo, a novelist, art critic, and translator of French literature active during Shōwa period Japan. Shibusawa wrote many short stories and novels based on French literature and Japanese classics. His essays about ...

* ' (赤目四十八瀧心中未遂 Akame forty-eight waterfall suicide pact attempt) by : Tattooed on the back of Aya, a female character. ;(Music) * '' Kalavinka'' by

Buck-Tick Buck-Tick (stylized as BUCK-TICK) is a Japanese rock band, formed in Fujioka, Gunma in 1983. The group has consisted of lead vocalist Atsushi Sakurai, lead guitarist Hisashi Imai, rhythm guitarist Hidehiko Hoshino, bassist Yutaka Higuchi and dr ...

;(Cycling) * The Tokyo-based Tsukumo Cycle Sports's brand is Kalavinka. Many of the bikes feature the Karyōbinga kanji as well as a head badge which features the image of the karyoubinga with the head of a bodhisattva bosatsu and the winged body of a bird.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kalavinka Buddhist legendary creatures Human-headed mythical creatures Chinese legendary creatures Japanese legendary creatures Legendary birds Pure Land Buddhism Birds in Buddhism