Abura Tenjin Yama / The Abura Thunder — Deity Float | The Gion Matsuri
The Abura Tenjin float features a small Shinto shrine dedicated to the 9th-century courtly scholar Sugawara Michizane. Inside the shrine is a statue of him that reportedly belonged to a noble family that lived in the float’s neighborhood in the Heian Period (794–1185). This suggests that this neighborhood’s residents have venerated Sugawara for about a thousand years. In addition to being a talented man of letters, Michizane was a virtuous and influential imperial advisor. He was unjustly slandered and consequently banished from court; though he remained loyal to the emperor, he died in disgraced exile. Thereafter his adversaries suffered mishaps, many of which involved thunderstorms. To appease his spirit, the emperor had him deified as a thunder god, or tenjin. Learn more on the Arare Tenjin Yama page. This float is located on Abura-Koji street, giving the float the rest of its name.
Read More: https://gionfestival.blogspot.com/2022/08/abura-tenjin-yama-abura-thunder-deity.html
