is a Japanese shinbutsu-shà «gà  (syncretic) deity of disease and of healing. Originally imported to Japan from mainland Asia, he was regarded since the Heian period both as a causer of and protector against epidemics and eventually became amalgamated with the native kami Susanoo-no-Mikoto during the medieval and early modern periods.
During the Meiji period, when the government mandated shinbutsu bunri, the separation of Shinto and Buddhism, Shinto shrines dedicated to Gozu Tennà  of the Gion cult tradition such as Yasaka Shrine in Gion, Kyoto or Tsushima Shrine in Tsushima, Aichi Prefecture or Hiromine Shrine in Hyà Âgo Prefecture officially reidentified their enshrined deity as Susanoo-no-Mikoto.
The origins and early development of the Gozu Tennà  cult prior to its arrival in Japan, as well as the process of its amalgamation with other deities, are unclear and a matter of debate. One theory claims that Gozu Tennà  was originally a minor Buddhist deity regarded as the protector of the vihÃÂra (Buddhist monastery) of Jetavana, with his Sanskrit name being reconstructed either as Gavagrëva "Ox-Necked" or Goà Âirsa DevarÃÂja "Ox-Headed Divine King" (a calque of 'Gozu Tennà Â'). From India, the deity's cult was supposedly transmitted to Japan via Tibet and China, where it was influenced by esoteric Buddhism and Taoism. Another theory proposes a Korean origin for the deity.
Gozu Tennà  was historically identified with a number of deities, foremost among these being Susanoo no Mikoto, the impetuous storm god of classical Japanese mythology, and , an obscure deity who appears in the legend of Somin Shà Ârai. The story recounts that Mutà  was a god from the northern sea who stayed at the house of a poor man named Somin Shà Ârai after Somin Shà Ârai's wealthy brother refused to provide him with lodgings. Mutà  later provided Somin Shà Ârai's family a magical means to save themselves from future epidemics as a reward for their hospitality and slew the rich man who rejected him. The earliest extant version of this legend dating from the Nara period (surviving in an extract quoted in a medieval work) has Mutà  revealing himself to be Susanoo, suggesting that the two deities were already being conflated during the 8th century, if not earlier.
Sources that equate Gozu Tennà  with Susanoo first appear during the Kamakura period (1185âÂÂ1333), although one theory supposes that these three gods and various other disease-related deities were already loosely coalesced around the 9th century, probably around the year 877 when a major epidemic swept through Japan. In later versions of the Somin Shà Ârai legend, the deity in the story came to be identified as Gozu Tennà Â, who at this stage had become more or less synonymous with both Susanoo and Mutà  (though one source instead applies the name 'Mutà Â' to Gozu Tennà Â's father).
The idea that Gozu Tennà  had Korean roots stems in part from his association with these two gods. Mutà Â's name for instance is believed to derive from the Korean word mudang, female Korean shaman, while a story recorded in the Nihon Shoki (720 CE) claims that Susanoo, after his banishment from Takamagahara, came down to a place called Soshimori in the land of Silla and from there crossed the sea to Japan. Indeed, the epithet gozu "ox-head(ed)" has been explained as being derived from Soshimori, here interpreted as a Korean toponym meaning "Bull's (') Head (')".
The concept of cow heads in Korea, specifically Silla, can be found in the title of the Hata clan. The Hata are believed to have arrived from Silla in the 5th century, having brought many of its elements that are shared across Japanese history and archaeology.
Gozu Tennà  was usually portrayed as a fierce-looking man with the head of an ox above his head. He is sometimes shown wielding an axe in one hand and a noose or lasso in the other, though other depictions may instead show him brandishing a sword or a halberd. He may be clad either in Indian-style garments, a suit of armor, or (rarely) in Japanese (Heian period) clothing. Some artworks might depict the deity with multiple arms and heads: a late Heian period statue in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture for instance shows him with three faces and four arms. Another statue in Tsushima, Aichi Prefecture depicts him with twelve arms, four heads (two fierce human heads each with a single horn, a horse's head, and an ox's head), and bird talons for feet. An ink drawing on a wooden panel (dating from 1490) which portrays the god with five heads is preserved in a temple in Konan, Shiga Prefecture.
Several early modern depictions of Susanoo identify the deity as Gozu Tennà  and may even exhibit iconographic traits of the latter (e.g. the ox's head) such as the first two images in this article.
The oldest version of the Somin Shà Ârai legend portrays the god Mutà  as marrying the daughter of the god of the southern seas. In later forms of this story featuring Gozu Tennà Â, the princess is given the name Harisaijo (é Â梨éÂÂ女 or æ³¢å©éÂÂ女, also known as 'Harisainyo' or 'Barisainyo') or 'Harisai Tennyo' (é Â梨éÂÂ天女) and is identified as the third daughter of the dragon (nÃÂga) king SÃÂgara. As Gozu Tennà  was amalgamated with Susanoo, Harisaijo was in turn identified with Susanoo's wife Kushinadahime. Harisaijo was also associated with the Onmyà Âdà  goddess Toshitokujin (), the presiding deity of the Japanese New Year.
Gozu Tennà  is said to have had eight children with Harisaijo, collectively known as the . These deities were amalgamated with both the , the guardians of the eight cardinal direction in Onmyà Âdà Â, and eight of Susanoo's sons and daughters (Yashimajinumi, I(so)takeru, à Âya(tsu)hime, Tsumatsuhime, à Âtoshi, Ukanomitama, à Âyabiko, and Suseribime).
Hachià Âji Castle, located in the city of Hachià Âji (which gets its name from this castle) in western Tokyo, is named after Gozu Tennà Â's children. Legend states that a monk named Myà Âkà  (å¦Âè¡Â) had a vision of Gozu Tennà  and the Hachià Âji while meditating at the hill where the castle would later be built, (formerly also known as Fukazawayama), during the early 10th century.