We arrived in Nara yesterday after lugging our bags on and off trains and ferries from Miyajima. The city is much more compact than the other ones we have visited and it is possible to walk to all of the main attractions easily. It is also set out around a huge park (koen) which is populated with……DEER.
We are staying in a hostel, in a 100 year old building. It is amazing and has many of the original features including sliding door ways, creaky old wooden floors and ‘paper’ windows. Our room was originally the tea ceremony room and is full of curious nooks and crannies. It even has the original and very tiny door, which the staff informed us was to prevent samurai entering the space with their large swords as they could not get under the archway with them on. It also has a great view onto the very Japanese garden!
After we checked in, there was a huge thunder storm and we listened to the rain pound down on the wooden building. Once this had passed, I knew it would be a good time to head out for an evening run as the storm would have eased the humidity a little, so we headed up to the park to explore in our running kit. It was a great time to go, as the park felt like a rainforest…..plus we didn’t sweat as much as usual..
The staff had also informed us that it was the final night of the lantern festival they had been holding (we presume this was linked in with the Obon festival) and that the park would be lit with thousands of candles in the evening. So we headed out, but not before grabbing something to eat. The only seating option available at the restaurant was tatami, so we tried to force our stiff western joints into sitting on the floor to eat our meal. We need to do more yoga.
We then headed to the park which was rammed with hundreds of visitors, but it felt quite magical following the flow of crowds into the illuminated park, hilst randomly coming across 5 tiered pagodas and such like. As you do.
The thousands of candles looked beautiful, and it has to be said, a photo can’t really do it justice.
This being a festival, there were also numerous stalls lining the main paths of the park, all selling streetfood (mainly on sticks) to the bustling crowds. The food ranged from fried chicken on sticks, grilled fish and octopus tentacles on sticks, chocolate bananas on sticks, pancake wraps on sticks and so on.
As we walked we realised we were getting close to the Todai Ji temple which was open late as part of the festival. I had read that this housed one of the biggest Buddha statues in the world, and boy was it big! We followed the hundreds of people streaming towards the towering entrance gates, which has two guardian statues in which I thought were big. I was wrong.
As we approached the Daibatsu-den Hall (the Great Hall) I realised just how giant this dude was going to be. He was peaking out of one of the winndows. If you look closely in the photo, in the central window, you can see him.
You can see his torso here, through the central doorway
We were funnelled in with all the other visitors to come face to face to the biggest Buddha I ever did see! Now a little history – the Daibatsu (Great Buddha) was originally built during the Nara period (710-784) and was cast in bronze in eight castings over three years. The hall which houses it is now only a third of its original size, which was finished in 798. This was after the capital of Japan was moved from Nara to Kyoto and was used to sprirtually consolidate the country. The statue is one of the largest of its kind in the world and the hall, one of the largest wooden buildings. All I can say is it was blimmin huge! It was also surrounded by other guardian statues which shimmered with gold.
This definitely does not convey the size accurately.
This casting of a hand for the Buddha maybe conveys the size a bit better?
It was really great visiting this at night as the atmosphere was intense, and the crowds were all as astonished as we were. This lady is crawing through a hole, which is the same size as one of the Daibatsu’s nostrils and it is said that if you can get through this, then you are assured of enlightenment….Needless to say, we didn’t try as we came to think it might not be that simple?
Here are three statues which were built to show the traditional Japanese gurning competitions of ancient Nara.
We headed back to the hostel, but not before spotting a Japanese badger snuffling about on the path home!
Rice ball count: 1
Historycatz 