Todai-ji (East Great Temple), the World’s Largest Wooden Building
Passing through the deer park, I headed towards Todai-ji, which boasts the world’s largest wooden structure as its main hall.
Todai-ji, also known as Dongdaesa in Korean characters(東大寺), is a temple with an incredibly large wooden structure, just as its name “Great Eastern Temple” suggests.
Todai-ji also features a massive bronze statue, making it an attractive tourist destination.
This is Nandai-mon, the main gate of Todai-ji.
Although it’s called the South Gate because it faces south, it’s actually the main entrance.
Although Todai-ji was completely destroyed in 1180, it was reconstructed in 1195.
The entrance fee is 500 yen (approximately 5 USD).
Despite being a gate where many people pass through, due to its immense size, it didn’t appear narrow at all, even with multiple people moving simultaneously.
There were freely roaming deer within the precinct.
Operating Hours for the Main Hall, Daibutsu-den (大仏殿, Great Buddha Hall)
The precinct seemed quite expansive.
Connected to Nara Park, the temple appeared serene and quiet.
However, the presence of many tourists prevented it from feeling empty.
The central gate of Todai-ji is characterized by its red color. Passing through here leads to the main hall, Daibutsu-den, where the Great Buddha statue is located.
The central gate cannot be passed directly from the front;
but can only access it through a side door like this.
Beyond the central gate, Daibutsu-den comes into view, and its scale is truly enormous.
The multitude of people looked like tiny dots.
Knowing that only the Great Buddha statue stands within that building piqued my curiosity even more.
Facing the main hall, a large incense burner stood impressively in place.
Before entering the main hall, I lit some incense as well.
The size was so vast that it was difficult to capture everything in a single photo.
Many people were visiting the temple.
Hearing that the main hall used to be even larger in the past, I could imagine its grandeur based solely on its current size.
The entrance of the main hall houses a large seated Buddha statue.
The colossal statue, Daibutsu (大仏, Great Buddha), was truly immense.
Although it was originally a 15-meter statue, it was reduced to one-third of its size during the reconstruction after being lost in the past.
Still, it stands at 5 meters in height. Its size is truly staggering.
The pillars of Daibutsu-den
Behind the main hall, there was a pillar with a large hole pierced through it.
Children were passing through the hole in various directions. Apparently, there’s a belief that passing through this hole wards off misfortune.
It was heartwarming to see children happily laughing and enjoying as they passed through the hole.
Similar to Korea, there seems to be a culture of maintaining the tiled roof with support beams.
It wasn’t drastically different from our practices.
Tourists reading fortunes
Observing visitors getting their fortunes read at the temple was quite similar to our customs.
This is how they cast away bad luck and seek good fortune.
A spring located as you leave the temple had a similar appearance to springs found in our temples.
However, unlike our temples that are often situated in mountainous areas, it was unique and refreshing to see such a large temple in such an open space.
Japanese schoolgirls on a field trip
As I exited Todai-ji, I saw Japanese middle school or high school students on a field trip.
And the deer were still leisurely enjoying themselves.
There were many deer that would approach people, seemingly asking for food.
However, there wasn’t a single person displaying anger or dislike.
(Map)
Dec. 13, 2009