Todaiji Statues – Nara

One of the greatest tourist attractions in Japan is the Nara Daibutsu, a huge buddha statue housed in the famous temple of Todaiji in Nara City, Nara Prefecture. Apart from the big statue itself there are plenty of smaller statues scattered around the main hall of the temple. The atmosphere is fantastic, air thick with incense smoke, prayers bells and the sunlight filtering in through the high windows. Well, at least if you go off season and on a weekday. Weekends and high season tends to get quite crowded especially recently with the absolute boom in overseas tourism.

There is statuary of all kinds of materials, millennium old wood carvings, bronzes and clay to name a few materials. If you have the opportunity to visit, spare a few minutes for the “other” art treasures of the Todaiji!

Nara Daibutsu – Big Buddha

One of the most tourist friendly cities in Japan is Nara, famous for its many deers, huge parks, massive temples and last but certainly not least, the Daibutsu, the big Buddha statue at the Todaiji temple. The main temple building was constructed in the 8th century A.D., but it has been rebuilt twice du to fires. The present structure is from 1709 and it was the largest wooden building in the world until 1998. Unfortunately none of these photos gives any hint of how large the statue really is, but at 15m he is similar in height to a normal four storey building. Next time I will make sure I have enough time there to get some decent photos!

Ancient Street – Nara

Yesterday I posted about the Azabu district in Tokyo, some photos of modern streets, shopping, traffic and restaurants. Here is an altogether totally different street, a part of the long winding temple road that connects the different parts at the huge Todaiji (東大寺) temple complex in Nara. This street was laid in the middle of the seventh century, and for the last almost 1250 years it has been virtually unchanged. Repairs have been made after earthquakes, civil wars, fires, bombing raids and typhoons, but it looks today just like it must have done more than a millennia ago. I think that being able to share this experience, a man made experience, with the people alive back then is hugely important. I am glad there are places on Earth where we can allowed this shared experience.