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Toshodaiji Temple
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Toshodaiji Temple
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Toshodaiji Temple
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Toshodaiji Temple
JAPAN, Nara
e destroyed by fire. The layout from the Nara period has been preserved and, as part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara, it was listed a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998.
The principal extant buildings include the Golden Hall, lecture hall, worship hall, founder’s hall, sutra repository, treasure hall, drum tower, and ordination platform. A number of them were listed as National Treasures during the 1950s.
The seven-by-four bay Golden Hall was built in High Tang (712-756) architectural style. It has a single-eave hip roof covered in cylindrical tiles. The columns are tapered and have a diameter of approximately 60 cm. Even though the building has undergone a number of repairs, it still retains its original appearance and it is the only extant main hall built during the Nara period. It houses a Vairocana Buddha statue flanked by the Medicine Buddha and the Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, as well as Brahma, Sakra, and the Four Heavenly Kings. These lacquered wooden statues on stone Sumeru thrones are listed as National Treasures.
The nine-by-four bay lecture hall has a single-eave hip-and-gable roof covered in cylindrical tiles. A seated statue of the Maitreya Buddha is enshrined within the hall. The three-by-three bay sutra repository has a hip roof covered with cylindrical tiles. Internally it is built in azekura style with good ventilation. The repository houses a number of works of art, including a gilt bronze turtle relic pagoda listed as a National Treasure, and Nara period wooden sculptures of the Medicine Buddha and Lion’s Roar Bodhisattva. |
