As you descend from the sights in the hillls of Nara to find your way back to the train station, you likely to wander into a nice large city park that contains this pond. I found an especially nice photo here.
Kasuga Taisha Shrine, Nara
This series of photos records the path up the hill to the Kasuga Taisha Shrine in Nara. The entire area is a World Heritage Site. What is noteworthy is that the path is lined with thousands of ancient stone lanterns that are lit for two annual festivals in February and August. Hunting and logging in this area have been prohibited since AD 841, so the forest on this long path is primeval. Birds, insects and trees are correspondingly unique.
These are the stone lanterns, the candles covered by paper on four sides toward the top.
Junk Boat, Nara
Just outside the main torii gate to Toda-ji is a nice pond with a Chinese junk boat tethered. Nice woodwork!
Temple Doors, Nara
Red Saint, Nara
I noticed a few of these red-shrouded saints throughout my visit to Nara and have not seen anything similar in the rest of Japan. Anyone have any insight on this? I could not help but notice the similarities of the costume to early Catholic clergy vestments.
Sangatsudo Hall, Nara
There are many visuals uphill from Todai-ji, part of the temple grounds. Here are some of more interesting shots I found.
Global Warming in Nara?
One thing that stood out to me as I wandered through Nara was that the Japanese maples where beginning to turn red in the third week of August. I don’t think that this is the historic norm.
Nara Deer
One of the distinguishing features of Nara is the prevalence of deer wandering the public areas around the temples and shrines. The deer have been historically considered sacred due to a legend of one of the Shinto gods worshiped in Nara riding into the city on a white deer. As a result, it was a capital offense to kill a deer and they have been part of the landscape since. Only since WW2 have they been relieved of their sacred/divine status; now they are designated “National Treasures” and are protected accordingly.
Look at that smile!
Yoshikien Garden, Nara
One of so many beautiful gardens that are former “back yards” of wealthy citizen’s estates, the Yoshikien Garden is found on the ascent to Todai-ji.
Nara
I made the pilgrimage to Nara, the ancient capital of Japan that precedes Kyoto. The “capital” in Japan is defined as where the emperor lives. Prior to Kyoto, the capital always moved when the emperor died because it was taboo to rule from the place where the previous ruler died. This tradition extinguished upon the ascendancy of the Kyoto capital.
Nara is just south of Kyoto Prefecture, about an hour or so train ride. It has a nice mellow vibe to it and is full of great visuals. While it was only the capital for 84 years (from 710 to 794), a significant number of impressive temples and shrines were constructed. Many are classified as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The premium attraction in Nara is Todai-ji Temple, famous for the massive Vairocana Buddha statue popularly known as Daibutsu (Great Buddha). founded in the 8th century, The Daibutsuden Hall which houses the statue was burned down twice in fires that broke out as a result of war. The present structure, which was rebuilt in 1709, was scaled down to 2/3rds of the original size. Nevertheless, it is the largest wooden structure on earth. Here it is.
Fantastic woodcarving is presented throughout this hall.
Gitch's Great Adventure 