Sixteen Arhats

The Sixteen Arhats (Japanese: 十六羅漢, Juroku Rakan; Tibetan: གནས་བརྟན་བཅུ་དྲུག, "Neten Chudrug") are a group of legendary Arhats in Buddhism. The grouping of sixteen Arhats was brought to China, and later to Tibet, from India. In China, an expanded group of Eighteen Arhats became more popular, but worship of the sixteen Arhats continues to the present day in Japan and Tibet. In Japan sixteen Arhats are particularly popular in Zen Buddhism, where they are treated as examples of behaviour. In Tibet, the sixteen Arhats, also known as sixteen sthaviras ('elders') are the subject of a liturgical practice associated with the festival of the Buddha's birth, composed by the Kashmiri teacher Shakyahribhadra (1127-1225). They are also well represented in Tibetan art.

The sixteen Arhats are:

Covered Box in the Shape of Sixteen Arhats in a Begging Bowl

Pindolabharadrāja (Binzuru) statue in Mitsu-tera Temple, Osaka, Japan.

Ańgaja (Ingada sonja) holding a stupika in his right hand. Musée Guimet.

Arhats Rahula, Cudapanthaka, and Pindola

Arhats Kanakavasta, Vajriputra, Kanaka-Bharadvaja, and Bhadra

Arhats Ajita, Kalika, and Vanavasin

Arhats Panthaka, Nagasena, Gopaka, and Abheda

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