Prime Minister Narendra Modi was presented with a Daruma doll while on his two-day official trip to Japan to attend the 15th India-Japan Annual Summit.
The doll was presented by the chief priest of the Shorinzan Buddhist temple in Taksaki City, Gunma Prefecture, on Friday.
History of the Daruma dolls
The Shorinzan temple, founded in 1697 by the Zen monk Shorinzan Shinetsu, is considered the birthplace of the Daruma doll tradition.
The Daruma dolls were made by farmers in he 18th century as lucky charms for good harvests and protection from misfortune.
The dolls are made from paper and glue and are hollow and round and work like a roly-poly toy. This means it can't be knocked over, perfectly representing the Japanese idiom of “falling seven times, standing up eight."
The dolls are modelled after the Bodhidharma, a Buddhist monk, who is sometimes speculated to have been either from Tamil Nadu or Kerala. The monk had travelled to China between the 5th and 6th centuries, and he is said to have been the founder of Zen Buddhism in Japan.
Shorinzan temple is dedicated to the Bodhidharma. During the Edo period in Japan (1603 until 1868), the Daruma dolls became a talisman for protection and good luck.
Bodhidharma became Daruma, and his image inspired the round, hollow paper dolls that represent good fortune.
Daruma doll customs
Daruma dolls do not have eyes painted on when you get them. The tradition is to paint on one of its eyes and make a wish. After the wish comes true, the other eye is painted on. Old Daruma dolls, which are returned to the temple in a ceremony, are burned in large bonfires to give them a good sendoff for fulfilling their purpose.