Todaiji Temple
Nara period, constructed 745
(Nara prefecture)

The origin of the the Todaiji monastery-temple in Nara goes back to the Kinshoji, a temple that had existed in the eastern sector of the present Todaiji compound. The Todaiji's main object of worship, a very large bronze image of the Buddha Birushana (Sanskrit: Vairocana, regarded by the Kegon sect as the cosmic, central Buddha), was completed in 752, prior to the completion of the Middle Gate (Chumon), the Lecture Hall (Kodo), the corridors, and the eastern and western 7-storey pagodas. Most of the original buildings, including the pagodas, were lost to fire during violent civil strife in 1180 and 1567, although the "Third Month Hall" (Sangatsudo), built during the Nara period, and the Southern Great Gate (Nandaimon), built during the Kamakura period, remain, as do numerous masterpieces of sculpture from the Nara and Kamakura periods. The nearby Shosoin is a wooden storehouse of 8th century art and cultural treasures which, by the Emperor's command, was for many centuries under the care of the Todaiji, though it is now under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Household Agency.

Photo 1: Kondo Daibutsuden
Photo 2: Interior of Kondo
Photo 3: Southern Great Gate (Nandaimon)
Photo 4: Sangatsudo
Photo 5: Tegai Gate (Tegaimon)