Two KomaInu #3 (Guardian Lions) Model 3D

8K textures baked from high resolution 3dscan: Albedo/Color Normal maps 16Bit Ambient Occlusion. Two Komainu #3 (guardian lions) from shinto shrine. Meant to ward off evil spirits, modern komainu statues are almost identical, but one has the mouth open, the other closed. This is a very common characteristic in religious statue pairs at both temples and shrines. This pattern is however Buddhist in origin (see the article about the Ni, human-form guardians of Buddhist temples) and has a symbolic meaning. The open mouth is pronouncing the first letter of the Sanskrit alphabet, which is pronounced a, while the closed one is uttering the last letter, which is pronounced um, to represent the beginning and the end of all things. Together they form the sound Aum, a syllable sacred in several religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.