San Mateo Buddhist Temple Doll Festival

On March 7 the San Mateo Buddhist Temple continued the custom of Hina Matsuri, the annual Doll's festival started in Japan around the middle of the Edo period (1730's). A set of festival dolls usually consists of at least 15 dolls dressed in ancient costumes and arranged on a stand having 5 or 7 step-like tiers covered with red fabric.  The most highly valued dolls for the festival are known as ‘Dairi-sama,” representing the Emperor and Empress dressed in court costumes of expensive silks and occupying the highest tier.  Behind them are miniature gold-leaf folding screens that also serve as a background for two tiny paper lanterns mounted on stands and two vases containing branches of miniature peach blossoms.  On the second tier are three court ladies and tiny dining trays with bowls and dishes. Court attendants and musicians are placed on the third and fourth tiers. The dolls used in Hina Matsuri have often been have been handed down from generation to generation as treasured heirlooms.