Gate of the Four Heavenly Kings

[Traveler]
Now, let's pass through the Gate of the Four Heavenly Kings. This is the last gateway to the World of Buddha. The Four Heavenly Kings enshrined in the gate are fierce protectors of the Buddhist world. Are the two tall trees soaring in the air before us the guardians? Well, the trees boast a majestic appearance, indeed, but no, they are not. The Buddhist guardians are in fact inside the gate building.

The Four Heavenly Kings were originally Hindu deities who protected the four cardinal directions, East, West, South and North. They were later adopted by Buddhism and turned into four of the most widely admired guardian deities among Buddhist followers around the world. Their appearance changed, too. As you can see here, they became fully armored warriors with a robust physique. In the early period, they had a much more benign and gentle appearance.

The main role of these guardians is to protect Buddhist followers from evil influences. Interestingly, each of the four protectors is in charge of a different emotional state of human beings. The guardian with the ancient Korean lute called a bipa governs pleasure, while the guardian with a sword governs love. The third carrying a dragon with magic pearl controls anger, and the fourth carrying a pagoda controls joy. Korean Buddhists also believe that these divine protectors are keenly interested in good and evil in the human mind to punish or reward people according to what they find in their minds. It's somewhat scary, isn't it? Do you think you can get safely past their sharp eyes without betraying your darkest thoughts?