Ancient temples of Nara Japan Video Lecture

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each year millions of tourists and
pilgrims visit Nara the ancient capital
of Japan they come to see the oldest
surviving wooden temple structures in
the world containing a treasure trove of
early Buddhist art the temple known as
Horry oh gee near Nara was founded in
the seventh century by Prince Shotoku an
early champion of Buddhism in Japan
fires destroyed these buildings in 670
and the entire complex was reconstructed
in 710 the oldest surviving buildings
here include a five-story pagoda an
image hall an inner corridor and gate
the Japanese sought to match the
cosmopolitan style and grandeur of the
official and religious architecture of
China and Korea the incorporated
imported features such as the use of
tiled roofs and bracketing to support
wide overhanging eaves
inside the image Hall is a famous
Buddhist triad according to an
inscription on the back of the halo it
was commissioned as an offering for
Prince Shotoku who became ill and died
just before it was completed todaiji or
the Great Eastern temple was
commissioned by the Emperor sho mu
several decades later it was built at
great expense to house an enormous
bronze statue of the cosmic Buddha
associated with the Sun
visitors approach the temple through a
deer park a reference to the Deer Park
in sarnath India where the Buddha
preached his first sermon passing
through the first gate one is confronted
by massive guardian figures the temple
was inaugurated in a huge ceremony in
752 witnessed by dignitaries from many
parts of the Buddhist world the temple
was destroyed and rebuilt several times
over the centuries a bronze Lantern
survives from the original site but the
main hall dates from 1709 and is only
two-thirds the size of the original even
so it is still the largest wooden
structure in the world under one roof
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the Great Buddha inside has also been
restored many times several bronze
petals surviving from the original Lotus
throne can be seen below the present
statue Bodhisattvas and guardian figures
are positioned on each side
within the grounds of todaiji is a
smaller sub temple that preserves an
intact version of a Buddhist altar from
the middle of the eighth century known
as sangat pseudo or Hokkaido it contains
a stunning image of a multi-armed
bodhisattva called ken known in japan
flanked by several other deities and
guardian figures the mixture of peaceful
and warlike figures makes an
unforgettable tableau two figures seen
here at the Asian Art Museum were once
part of a similar altar arrangement in
another temple in Nara known as Banton
anti-shock Outen they were made using
the same dry lacquer technique used to
make the statue of Kannan and probably
accompanied a similar figure they are
among the rare examples of Nara period
sculpture outside of Japan
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