It's Saturday, but we decided to take an excursion to one of the temples on the outskirts of Nara, as Hata-san our interpreter offered to guide us. It was seriously hot - with about a 2km walk from the station to the temple site I realised I need to keep a check on the potential for sun-stroke.
The journey was well worth it, and we were early enough to be leaving as bus after bus of tourists started arriving in the height of the heat.
Horyu-ji is a Buddhist temple in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, and widely acknowledged to have some of the oldest wooden buildings existing in the world. Although there is much debate over the actual age of older wooden structures like this (as maintenance may at times involve replacing wood that has deteriorated - therefore adding a bit to the building that is not original), dendrochronological analysis has showed some parts of this building to be made from trees felled prior to AD670.... woah.
The temple was originally commissioned by Prince Shotoku, and was dedicated to Yakushi Nyorai, the Buddha of healing.
2 comments:
WOW!!!
scale models with scale people in them too! Matt
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