Duo of Japanese guardian lions in resin, KOMAINU

2 Japanese Lions guardians of ornament, KOMAINU, decoration,

The komainu (狛 犬 · 胡麻 犬?) Are pairs of statues of lion-like creatures guarding the entrance or honden (inner sanctuary) of many Shinto shrines unless they themselves are kept in the sanctuary where they are not visible to the public. The first type, appeared during the time of Edo, is called sandō komainu

Designed to ward off evil spirits, modern komainu statues are almost identical, but one is open-mouthed, the other closed. This is a very common feature of pairs of religious statues in temples and shrines. This Buddhist trend (see the article on niō, human-shaped guardians of Buddhist temples) has a symbolic meaning. The open mouth pronounces the first letter of the Sanskrit alphabet, which sounds "a" while the closed mouth speaks the last letter that sounds "um" to signify the beginning and the end of all things2. They together form the aum sound, sacred syllable in several religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.