Nara - Kofukuji and Todaiji temples...

 The weather was really bad today, it was raining. Already its so cold. But we decided to continue our trip to Nara. From the Inn where we are staying, we took umbrellas and started our journey. Even through it as rain, it feels so nice to walk through the roads of Nara. As we reached the Nara park, we could see some deers wandering there even in this rain. I have already heard about the freely roaming deers of  Nara park, and I wished to touch them. The rain spoiled everything. Not much deers were found. But still, I played with some of them. Their wet fur sticked on to my hands and I felt bad. :(

Me with deers..

There were a lot of street vendors with Deer Biscuits. The deers  come around as soon as we bought some biscuits for them. These are wild deers which came down from the mountains to the park to feed on the grass and Shika Senbei (Deer biscuits).
We reached the Kofukuji temple. Kofukuji was one of the "Four Great Temples" of the Nara period. It features a tall five-story pagoda and many Buddhist art treasures. In 1998 Kofukuji Temple was inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site as part of the "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara" listing. Kofukuji Temple is the headquarters of the Hosso school in Japan.

Kofukuji temple.

The five storeyed pagoda.

From there, we moved to the Todaiji temple.We took our entry pass and get inside the temple.

Entry pass for Todaiji temple.

Todaiji ("Great Eastern Temple") is one of Japan's most famous and historically significant temples and a landmark of Nara. It was constructed in 752 as the head temple of all provincial Buddhist temples of Japan and grew so powerful that the capital was moved from Nara to Nagaoka in 784 in order to lower its influence on government affairs. Not only is Todaiji housing Japan's largest Buddha statue (Daibutsu), but it is also the world's largest wooden building, even though the present reconstruction of 1692 is only two thirds of the original temple's size. This gold and bronze Buddha is one of the largest bronze statues in the world at 16 meters tall. 

Todaiji temple.

The great Budha of Todaiji.

Inside the Great Buddha Hall (Daibutsuden) of the Todaiji Temple in Nara, towards the exit - right near the souvenir area, there is a very thick pillar with a hole in it, which is said to be the same size as the Budha statue’s nostril. The legend says that if you manage to pass through this hole, you will attain enlightenment in the next life. There were so many people waiting for trying it forming a big queue there.

The hole on a pillar near the Budha statue of Todaiji temple.

We saw another ritual there. People write their prayers to the lord on wooden plates and hang it on a board at one side of the temple. I think we have similar practice in some temples of India too.

We saw an Asoka pillar located at the east of the Tōdai-ji temple. Felt so happy seeing some piece of Indian culture in this land.

A lamp tree near the Todaiji temple.

It was still raining as we walked towards a shrine up a hill near to the Todaiji temple. On the way there as a large bell inside a roof which can be rang by pulling off a big wooden rod hanged infront of it.

The huge bell of Todaiji temple.

It was also like a temple and there we saw a tub with water and laddles placed on its walls. We have to wash our hands and feet before entering the temple. We did so and enter inside .

The shrine near Todaiji temple.

Water tub and laddles.

A golden plant inside of the shrine.

Once we left the shrine, the rain stopped. And in the park, deers grown in number, also the visitors . We again had a nice time with deers.

 
It felt sad while leaving the deer friends of Nara park as I like the place so much mainly because of them.