We took a trip Nara, Japan. Nara is an ancient capital of Japan (year 710 to 784). We stayed in a large park which contained many of the historic buildings and had a rather quaint feeling to it.
You will understand the antlers later...
They had rickshaws around and would take people for rides up the hill to a temple and back... at a running pace!
One of the main sites to see is Todai-ji Temple Daibutsuden Hall... it is apparently the largest wooden building in the world. I must say it was big, but it's hard to imagine that somebody hadn't built a bigger wooden building!
As the building name implies it is a temple so although it is swarming with tourists people will still stop and pray and burn incense. So that means there can be a frail old man who's job it is to take care of the prayer pot!
And can you imagine that they pray to Buddha? I hope so because it is a gigantic Buddha statue when you get inside!
There were some other statues within the building; however I am not really sure what they represent. This one looks kind of like a warrior, except that he's holding a brush and scroll. Seems like odd "everyday wear" if you ask me!
I think some of the statues and decorations were newer than one would expect in a 1000+ year old temple! But they still could look cool. :)
Leah explained to me what this whole in the support pillar was for; however I have since forgotten. I liked the picture of a couple of feet sticking out from a giant piece of wood!
After Todai-ji Temple Leah took me further up the hill towards Kasuga-taisha, which is a Shinto shrine
Deer Park, surrounding Kasuga-taisha, could almost seems mythical with the green moss and the (tame) fawn just meandering through.
Yes, the deer were everywhere... and really tame, I mean really tame!
Kasuga-taisha is famous for the lanterns around it. Many stone lanterns exist on the grounds leading to the shrine... it must have been a full time job to keep the lanterns lit!
And leading away from the shrine...
The shrine is also famous for the many bronze lanterns which are hung within the shrine.
You're right... I did not actually take any pictures of the shrine. It was closed that day for a private ceremony and the pictures from a distance just were not very good.
From Kasuga-taisha we went to the Manyo Botanical Garden. It was small, but peaceful and not very busy. So we got to rest our feet and relax in the shade.
Water anyone?
