Source: Press Reports
JAPAN, August 14, 2002: Hinduism went from India to Japan along with the Buddhist missionaries. Numerous deities were introduced into Japan and many of these are still very popular. For example, Indra is popular in Japan as Taishaku (literally the great King Sakra); Ganesha is worshipped as Sho-ten (literally, Holy God) in many Buddhist temples, and is believed to confer happiness upon his devotees. A sea-serpent, worshipped by sailors is called Ryujin, a Chinese equivalent of the Indian Naga or Snake God. Shinto has also adopted Indian gods: Varuna is worshipped as Sui-ten (Water God), and Saraswati, the Goddess of Learning, has become Benten (literally, Goddess of Speech). Siva is well known to the Japanese as Daikoku (literally, God of Darkness), which is a Chinese and Japanese equivalent of the Indian Mahakala, another name of Siva. According to author Donald A. Mackenzie: “The Indian form of myth of the Churning of the Milky Ocean reached Japan. “The Japanese Shinto myth of creation is similar, with the churning of primeval waters until they curdle and form land. There is evidence of Indian influence in Japanese dance, art, literature and games. Even the cultivation of cotton in Japan is traced to an Indian who drifted to the shores of Aichi Prefecture in 799. It has also been found that some of the scriptures of the Japanese priests preserved in the Horyuji Temple of Japan are written in Bengali characters of the eleventh century.