Beneath Japan’s serene temples lies an unexpected tapestry rich with Indian threads. At least twenty Hindu deities, including Saraswati (Benzaiten), Ganesha (Kangiten), Lakshmi (Kishijoten), Brahma (Bonten), and Kubera (Bishamonten), remain actively worshipped some even more so than in modern India. In rare but deeply symbolic rituals like goma (akin to India’s homa), Sanskrit chants echo in over 1,200 temples across the country, preserving Vedic spiritual technologies.

The ancient Siddham script, originating in the 6th century and now defunct in India, survives in Japan seen on prayer shrines, tombs, and home altars, revered though unreadable to most. Even Japanese phonetic scripts, the Kana, were shaped by Sanskrit’s rhythms—an insight into why Japanese priests can chant Sanskrit flawlessly, despite never learning the Devanagari system.

This cultural resonance from deities to scripts, from mantra to melody reveals a living legacy where spiritual currents from India continue to ripple through Japanese life.