Five Terraces for One Bodhisattva: Manjushri's Living Cult at Mount Wutai

Manjushri is not only a figure of scripture and iconography but the object of one of the most enduring living pilgrimages in Mahayana Buddhism. Since at least the writings of the Huayan patriarch Chengguan in the eighth century, Mount Wutai in Shanxi province, China, has been identified as Manjushri's earthly abode, an identification rooted in the Avatamsaka, or Flower Garland, Sutra's description of a cool mountain paradise where the bodhisattva of wisdom dwells. Pilgrims who undertake the full circuit, traditionally called the Da Chaotai, visit temples across all five of the mountain's terraces to pay homage to Manjushri on each one. The site drew sustained imperial patronage across Chinese history, including numerous pilgrimages by Qing dynasty emperors such as Kangxi, whose support helped build and repair its monasteries. Mount Wutai remains one of the most visited Buddhist pilgrimage destinations in the world today, and Manjushri's veneration extends well beyond China, with active devotion in Tibetan, Newar Buddhist and Japanese traditions, where he is known as Monju, and with students and scholars in several of these communities specifically invoking him before examinations, given his association with wisdom and learning.