Day 20: Sunday, April 27th
We got up early and said goodbye to my favorite city, Kyoto. I am so glad that we spent so much time there!
Our plan today is to leave Kyoto (pink circle), travel by train to Nara, go on a walking tour of Nara (yellow circle), and then travel to Osaka where we will stay at our hotel by Universal Studios (light blue circle).
We were able to ship our luggage from Kyoto to our hotel in Osaka which was very convenient. So we just had our backpacks with us as we took an hour train ride from Kyoto to Nara.
Once we got to the train station in Nara we stored our big backpacks and then headed to the check-in spot for our half day, group walking tour.
The first part of our tour is the pink line and the second part (in the next blog post) is the light blue line:
[Meeting spot at the train station]
We found our tour guide (let's call him Jim) and our tour group by the fountain check-in spot at 10:00 AM. Our group consisted of Luke and I, two young women from Australia, and three guys (lets call them bros) from eastern Europe. Jim gathered us around and told us the plan for the day and some history about Nara. We headed south through the Higashimuki Shopping Street towards our first site: Kōfuku-ji.
[Higashimuki Shopping Street]
Kōfuku-ji is a old Buddhist Temple that was originally founded in 669 in Kyoto, but was moved to Nara when Nara became the capital in 710. The temple expanded during that time, but in 1717 most of the buildings were destroyed in a fire. This temple is one of the Seven Great Temples of Nara (Nanto Shichi Daiji).
The temple grounds are quite large and consists of many buildings. We started the tour at the three-storied Pagoda.
[Three-storied pagoda]
We then walked up too the Northern Round Hall.
Unfortunately, we were not able to see the famous five-storied pagoda. They built a huge building around it while it under goes an extensive renovation.
We then moved to the Southern Round Hall.
[Amazing local artist]
[Central Golden Hall]
After exploring the temple grounds we walked through Noborioji Park where we came across the famous bowing deer. The deer here will bow to you and in return you are supposed to give them a treat. We didn't have any treats so Jim told us to show the deer our hands so they would leave us alone. The deer can get quite aggressive when they think you have food that you aren't giving them!
Jim said we would have time to feed the deer later so we hurried through the park and made our way to the Todai-ji Temple grounds. This is another one of the Seven Great Temples of Nara (Nanto Shichi Daiji). It is a large temple complex that has several large gates and a large central temple that houses the world's largest bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana.
We first made our way through the Todai-ji Namdaimon (Grand South Gate).
[Guardians at the Grand South Gate]
[Warnings about the deer]
[Hands of Buddha]
We went through the Todai-ji Chumon (Central Gate) and got our first glimpse of the Main Hall.
[Todai-ji Chumon (Central Gate)]
[Main Hall]
Jim showed us the two large golden shibi on the roof (they look like horns). He said they are about 10 feet tall and they are supposed to represent fishtails. Over the years the temple has been plagued by fires. The shibi symbolize water and offer protection to the temple against fire.
[Doors to the Main Hall]
[Buddha Vairocana]
[Komokuten, one of the pair of guardians in the Daibutsuden]
[Model of one of the shibi]
[Models of previous temples]
There's a popular tradition where visitors try to squeeze through a hole in one of the temple's pillars. The hold is said to be the size of the Great Buddha's nostril. Successfully passing through is believed to grant enlightenment or good fortune in the next life. No one in our group tried, but we saw a few skinny people do it!
After wandering through the Great Hall we went outside and saw this Buddha. Jim said that if we are in pain we can rub that body part on the Buddha and it will make your pains go away.
[My feet hurt!]
Jim then lead us to the Todai-ji Shoro (Bell Tower) where we gathered around for a group photo!
From there we walked to the base of Mt Wakakusa where we had lunch at this nice little restaurant.
There was so much food that we had to spread out over two tables!
Luke and I sat next to the two nice young ladies from Australia, while the Bros and Jim sat at the other table.
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