Nara

This past weekend I went to Nara with one of my classmates to see the many temples and sites in and around the town. We had a really great time, and I took so many pictures that I'm going to split the trip into three posts. This post includes the sites in the town of Nara, which we saw on Sunday. We started at Todaiji, which is a huge temple surrounded by Nara park. There are hundreds (maybe thousands) of deer which roam freely here. One can purchase deer biscuits to feed the deer, though they will come up to you and sniff you out for food regardless. I don't think I have ever touched a deer before, so this was an interesting experience. Once purchasing the biscuits, of course they swarmed me, and one even bit me in the behind!!! The deer are sacred, so perhaps this is a good sign, and nonetheless a humorous story. The photos show the Nandaimon gate which houses two huge Nio guardian statues dating from the 13th century, and the Daibutsuden Hall which is the largest wooden building in the world, and houses a 16 meter high bronze Buddha. We also saw many other amazing sculptures on the grounds.













The next stop was the Kasuga Taisha shrine, a Shinto shrine nearby Todaiji that was founded in the 8th century, with the present structures dating from the 19th century. Prior to that the shrine was rebuilt every 20 or so years according to Shinto tradition. The site and the grounds were really beautiful, set in an old forest, and with over 3,000 lanterns, and of course many deer. We also had some green tea ice cream nearby for an afternoon snack.



















The final stop of the day was Kofukuji, where we saw more deer, a large group of pilgrims, the 5 and 3 story pagodas, and more wonderful sculptures. This temple dates from 710, but many of the buildings were rebuilt throughout history due to fires and other destruction. After some quick shopping near the station, we took the trains back to Okazaki, eating bento on the Shinkansen. :)