Todaiji Temple
November 8, 2011 by slater2
Nara is a beautiful city in Japan, that served as the countries capital during the Nara period of Japanese history. During this period of time, Buddhism was on a rise and several temples were ordered to be constructed. The Emperor Shomu, ordered that the Todaiji temple be built and also that a big Buddah statue be built.
When you are going to the Todaiji Temple, before going through the gate you will encounter countless deer. The deer are generally hungry and there are vendors around that have shikasembei,or crackers that you can feed to the deer. Be careful because once you buy the shikasembei, a massive amount of deer will quickly run after you so that you can feast on your crackers.
After feeding and observing the deer, you can then walk through the gate and you will be in route to the Todaiji Temple. When you walk through the gate, you will be greeted by the gate guardians Agyo and Ungyo. Once you walkthrough the gate, the you will be on a trail to the booth where you can buy a ticket to enter the beautiful temple. The tickets are 500 yen for adults and 300 yen for children. After getting your ticket, you walk to the right and you can get you first view of the temple. You continue on and get your ticketed stamped and you are almost ready to enter the temple. The next step is to cleanse your hands with the water and then hike up the stairs of the temple.
The Todaiji Temple is the largest wooden building in the world. And it houses the Nara Daibutsu, which is the largest bronze statue in the world. The Daibutsu is a National Treasure and has a height of approximately 15 meters. For more information please visit the following link.
One Response to “Todaiji Temple”
Nice topic. Of course a visit to Nara and the Daibutsu is a must. I might have liked to see a picture of the Big Buddha…