In the eighth century, Nara was the first permanent capital was Japan. Previously the location of the capital was changed when the emperor died on duty, impractical thing to a centralized government. Recently she had adopted Buddhism as the official religion, so Nara was filled with Buddhist temples. The clergy began to accumulate power and meddling in state affairs. So the Emperor Kammu moved the capital to Kyoto in the late eighth to get away from the influence of the monks. The capital of Nara had only lasted 70 years, but they were a lot of temples that are a marvel.
About 8 o'clock in the morning we took the local train from JR Nara Line to Nara, the trip would take an hour. In the same station Nara had the tourist office, where a very nice lady gave us a map of Nara and informed us of the temples that we were not supposed to lose.
12b See Japan: Nara & Osaka I in a larger map
To get to the temples we walked down a long avenue works for about 15 minutes. Eventually we reached the large garden extension Nara-koen, where we found the first temple, Kofuku-ji. This temple was founded in the seventh century by the Fujiwara clan, which ruled Japan for centuries in the shadow of the emperors. The first thing we saw was the octagonal hall of the south, a small building in the ninth century rebuilt in the XVIII. Nearby were some booths where did goshuin. It was one of the few occasions where we could see the monk while writing kanji stamps and stamped our goshuin-cho. Most times are delivered to another site and did not see it
octagonal room south, Kofukuji
goshuin monk writing, Kofukuji
In this temple came to us a woman who offered us a free guided tour of the temple to practice English. He taught us the most representative buildings explaining its history. We pass next to the Chukon-do, the main building of the temple, we could not see because it is in works (it will be until 2018). The other important building Kofuku-ji is the five-story pagoda. It was built in the eighth century and is the second highest pagoda in Japan.
Five-storey pagoda, Kofukuji
Beside him was a small temple, Tokon-do National Treasure Museum, which houses a large collection of Buddha statues, where is. We did not go, but the guide showed us a dossier with photos of the most important sculptures. The truth is that we liked the explanations of the guide, it was quite a lucky find.
Located within the Kofuku-ji began to see one of the best known citizens of Nara: deer. There were many and were harmless, if there was no food in between ... There were some stalls where you could buy some cookies that the deer loved them. Tourists who bought those cookies were immediately surrounded by a scrum of deer that did not hesitate to use aggressive methods take with food. Deer are considered sacred, and until the seventeenth century his death was punished by the death penalty.
Deer Kofukuji
After crossing a large piece of Nara-koen come to the most important temple in Nara, Todai-ji. It was built in the eighth century to house a large sculpture of the Buddha to protect the population from natural disasters. We entered the stadium for the Nandai-mon, a door enclosing two gods fierce-looking guards.
Nandai-mon, Todai-ji
After paying the 500 yen entrance, we agreed to Daibutsuden, the building that houses the Great Buddha. We found huge, in fact until recently was the world's largest wooden building! And that the reconstructions had shrunk to a third of the original!
Daibutsuden, Todai-ji
Daibutsuden, Todai-ji
Inside was not difficult to find the statue of the Great Buddha or Daibutsu, as it was so big that it almost filled the entire inside. With its 15 m high, is the largest Buddha image in Japan. His size and his piercing eyes were stunning. Beside the Daibutsu, there were two smaller golden Buddha sculptures.
Daibutsu, Todai-ji
Daibutsu, Todai-ji
Daibutsu, Todai-ji
In one of the pillars of the building there was a hole near the ground; Legend says that whoever crosses is guaranteed a place in paradise, although the gap only allowed the passage of children and adults very thin ...
The next temple we visited was located on a hill, was the Nigatsu-do, although it really belongs to the temple of Todai-ji. It is not the most important temples in Nara, but worth a visit. One of his claims are the views of the terrace at the main building, but they were not very nice. In an adjacent room there was a place to rest enabled with tables, chairs, a machine for you and one that threw cold water, a luxury for that day so hot! Beside the Nigatsu-do is the Sangatsu-do, a small temple that has the honor of being the oldest building around Nara.
About 8 o'clock in the morning we took the local train from JR Nara Line to Nara, the trip would take an hour. In the same station Nara had the tourist office, where a very nice lady gave us a map of Nara and informed us of the temples that we were not supposed to lose.
12b See Japan: Nara & Osaka I in a larger map
To get to the temples we walked down a long avenue works for about 15 minutes. Eventually we reached the large garden extension Nara-koen, where we found the first temple, Kofuku-ji. This temple was founded in the seventh century by the Fujiwara clan, which ruled Japan for centuries in the shadow of the emperors. The first thing we saw was the octagonal hall of the south, a small building in the ninth century rebuilt in the XVIII. Nearby were some booths where did goshuin. It was one of the few occasions where we could see the monk while writing kanji stamps and stamped our goshuin-cho. Most times are delivered to another site and did not see it
octagonal room south, Kofukuji
goshuin monk writing, Kofukuji
In this temple came to us a woman who offered us a free guided tour of the temple to practice English. He taught us the most representative buildings explaining its history. We pass next to the Chukon-do, the main building of the temple, we could not see because it is in works (it will be until 2018). The other important building Kofuku-ji is the five-story pagoda. It was built in the eighth century and is the second highest pagoda in Japan.
Five-storey pagoda, Kofukuji
Beside him was a small temple, Tokon-do National Treasure Museum, which houses a large collection of Buddha statues, where is. We did not go, but the guide showed us a dossier with photos of the most important sculptures. The truth is that we liked the explanations of the guide, it was quite a lucky find.
Located within the Kofuku-ji began to see one of the best known citizens of Nara: deer. There were many and were harmless, if there was no food in between ... There were some stalls where you could buy some cookies that the deer loved them. Tourists who bought those cookies were immediately surrounded by a scrum of deer that did not hesitate to use aggressive methods take with food. Deer are considered sacred, and until the seventeenth century his death was punished by the death penalty.
Deer Kofukuji
After crossing a large piece of Nara-koen come to the most important temple in Nara, Todai-ji. It was built in the eighth century to house a large sculpture of the Buddha to protect the population from natural disasters. We entered the stadium for the Nandai-mon, a door enclosing two gods fierce-looking guards.
Nandai-mon, Todai-ji
After paying the 500 yen entrance, we agreed to Daibutsuden, the building that houses the Great Buddha. We found huge, in fact until recently was the world's largest wooden building! And that the reconstructions had shrunk to a third of the original!
Daibutsuden, Todai-ji
Daibutsuden, Todai-ji
Inside was not difficult to find the statue of the Great Buddha or Daibutsu, as it was so big that it almost filled the entire inside. With its 15 m high, is the largest Buddha image in Japan. His size and his piercing eyes were stunning. Beside the Daibutsu, there were two smaller golden Buddha sculptures.
Daibutsu, Todai-ji
Daibutsu, Todai-ji
Daibutsu, Todai-ji
In one of the pillars of the building there was a hole near the ground; Legend says that whoever crosses is guaranteed a place in paradise, although the gap only allowed the passage of children and adults very thin ...
The next temple we visited was located on a hill, was the Nigatsu-do, although it really belongs to the temple of Todai-ji. It is not the most important temples in Nara, but worth a visit. One of his claims are the views of the terrace at the main building, but they were not very nice. In an adjacent room there was a place to rest enabled with tables, chairs, a machine for you and one that threw cold water, a luxury for that day so hot! Beside the Nigatsu-do is the Sangatsu-do, a small temple that has the honor of being the oldest building around Nara.
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