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Todaiji Temple

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Todaiji Temple

In 745 the Emperor Shomu ordered that an enormous statue of the Buddha Vairocana be built to protect the capital of Nara and its people from plagues and natural disasters. It seems his plan failed. The capital was moved to Kyoto just 49 years later and in coming centuries the statue itself, called the Daibutsu, would have its head removed by an earthquake and its hands melted in a fire that consumed the great hall surrounding it.

Still, despite the fact that the project nearly bankrupted Japan, the results were impressive. In addition to serving as a tremendous display of power for the Emperor, the main hall was the largest wooden building in the world. That remains true today, even though the present structure is only two thirds the size of the original. The twin wooden pagodas (long fallen to earthquakes) that flanked the temple may have been the tallest manmade structures on earth after the pyramids at Giza.

Finally there is the statue itself. Most of the bronze available in Japan at the time went into the Daibutsu, which stands 15 meters tall and weighs 500 metric tons. It’s an incredible sight even today, and when it was built visitors arrived from across the Buddhist world to attend the “eye-opening” ceremony, in which an Indian priest mounted scaffolding to paint in the eyes of the statue before a crowd of dignitaries and faithful.

The crowds are still there, and many guidebooks sensibly warn against visiting on weekends if you can avoid it. Better by far to arrive early on a weekday, walk beneath the majestic Great South Gate with its glaring, seven-meter tall guardian figures, and have some breathing room while you explore the grounds. There are other interesting outbuildings and gardens in the complex as well, and slender people might want to look for the pillar in the great hall with a hole in its base. The hole is said to be the size of one of the Daibutsu’s nostrils, and anyone who can wriggle through will be granted enlightenment in their next life. The alternative, of course, is not only to be denied enlightenment but also to be lodged firmly in an enormous wooden pillar while onlookers giggle and snap pictures. Feeling brave?