Menuki with the Kurikara 倶利迦羅 deisgn, representing a black dragon 黒龍, surrounding a Tsurugi 剣 (double-edged sword). The set also symbolizes the deity Fudō Myō.

Menuki Omote: Length 47mm, Width 11.5mm, height 3mm

Menuki Ura: 49mm length, 12mm width, 3mm height

The Kurikara is composed of the sword of Fudo Myoo, the sword of wisdom, capable of destroying the three 'poisons', greed, hatred, and stubbornness. Fudo Myoo, or the Dragon King Kurikara, can be seen as expressing the power to protect Buddhism and destroy all evil and sin.

Kurikara is particularly important in Shugendō, a Japanese Buddhist spiritual tradition including Mikkyo, Shinto, Taoist, Confucian traditions, where the relationship between man and nature is paramount, whose goal is the development of experiences of spiritual powers through the virtuous practice of asceticism.

The original name in Sanskrit is Kurika 矩里迦, the Dragon King Ryu in India. Taken up by the Mikkyo branch of esoteric Buddhism, then Shugendo, the Kurikara is the manifestation, representation, of Fudō Myō, using his saber to destroy illusion and attachment.
The Kurikara dragon symbolizes the internal energy developed through the practice of the saber, allowing to avoid sins (Lust, rage, greed, avidity, attachment, ego, pride).