Todaiji (Great Eastern
Temple) is one of Japan's most famous temples and a landmark of Nara. Located in Nara Park,
in central Nara, Todaiji was constructed in 752
as the head temple of all provincial Buddhist temples of Japan. Todaiji
derives its name from its location east of Nara,
which was the capital of Japan
when it was built. Today, the temple serves as the Japanese headquarters of the
Kegon school of Buddhism.
History
The monastery-temple
Todaiji was founded by Emperor Shomu (r.724-749) when Nara
was the capital of Japan.
It was the head temple of the network of provincial monasteries throughout Japan.
Immense in scale
(significantly larger than the temple that stands today), Todaiji represented
the culmination of imperial Buddhist architecture.
Todaiji is a temple of the
Kegon sect of Buddhism, which reveres the Buddha Vairocana (Birushana in
Japanese) as the cosmic, central Buddha. The principal image of the temple is a
bronze statue of Vairocana, colossal in scale.
According to legend,
nearly 2,600,000 people helped construct the Buddha — but as that would amount
to nearly the half of the people in Japan at the time, the figure is
probably exaggerated. Nevertheless, by the time the Buddha was completed in
751, it had consumed most of Japan's
bronze production for several years and left the country almost bankrupt.
The Great Buddha was
finally dedicated in 752 with great pomp and ceremony. The emperor and his
family were present for the occasion, as were hundreds of local monks and
ambassadors from China, India and more
distant places.
The statue was dedicated
by "opening his eyes" — an Indian priest stood on a specially built
platform and painted in the eyes using a gigantic brush. The guests brought a
dazzling assortment of gifts, many of which have been preserved in the Shoso-in
treasury, along with the original paintbrush.
Popularly called the Nara
Daibutsu (Great Buddha of Nara), the statue was installed in the huge
Daibutsuden (Great Buddha Hall). By 798 the vast temple compound of Todaiji was
completed.
Todaiji temple grew so
powerful that the Japanese capital was moved from Nara to Nagaoka in 784 in order to lower its
influence on government affairs. The temple remained active, and its wooden
buildings were rebuilt several times over the centuries after fires and
earthquakes.
After most of the
buildings were destroyed in 1180, Todaiji was reconstructed under the abbot
Shunjobo Chogen (1121-1206) in a style he saw in China. This style can still be seen
in the Nandaimon (Great Southern Gate), for which the famed sculptors Unkei and
Kaikei made the impressive guardian statues in 1203.
Todaiji was again greatly
damaged in 1567; it was rebuilt by the Tokugawa shogunate in 1692. The
Daibutsuden that stands today dates for the most part from 1709 and is
two-thirds the size of the original. Little remains of the orirginal
8th-century buildings of Todaiji, except the Tegai Gate of the western wall and
the inner sanctuary of the hokkedo.
The Great Buddha statue
has also been damaged, especially due to earthquakes, and recast several times.
The current statue dates from 1692.What to See
The main entrance to the
temple is through the 13th-century Nandaimon (Great Southern Gate). It features
two impressive guardian statues of the Nio (Benevolent Kings), carved in 1203
and each more than 8 meters tall.
Todajji's main temple
building, the Daibutsuden (Great Buddha Hall), is said to be the largest wooden
building in the world. This is especially impressive in light of the fact that
the present reconstruction (from 1692) is only two thirds of the original
temple's size.
The original complex also
contained two 100-meter-high pagodas, probably the tallest buildings in the
world at the time, but these were destroyed by earthquake.
Todaiji is famous for
housing Japan's
largest Buddha statue. It depicts the Buddha Vairocana and, like the one at Kamakura, is commonly
known as the Daibutsu (Great Buddha). The Daibutsu is made of copper and
bronze, weighs 250 tons and stands 30 meters tall. His intricate hairstyle is
made of 966 bronze balls.
Also of interest in the
Daibutsuden are the rear support pillars, which have holes through the bottom.
Popular belief has it that if one is successful in squeezing through one of
these "healing pillars," he or she is guaranteed a place in Heaven.
Outside the Daibutsuden at
the bottom of the steps, don't miss the bronze Octagonal Lantern, one of the
oldest treasures in Todaiji — it dates from the original 8th-century temple.
The lantern's support post is inscribed with a Buddhist text on the merits of
lighting lanterns.
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