Exploring Japan’s Nara City

My friend and I also went to Nara. From the Osaka train station, it only takes about one hour via train to reach the Nara station.  At the Nara station, one can easily go to the tourist information center to get a map and ask which bus to take to go to the different sites.

We took a bus from Nara station but since we encountered some traffic on the road near the Todaiji temple area we just decided to take a walk.

For our first site, we went to Kasuga Taisha Shrine, a UNESCO World Heritage site .

Kasuga Taisha Shrine is located inside a grove of trees and one will surely see a lot of lanterns while walking into the woods to go to the shrine.  There are 3,000 lanterns in the shrine which symbolizes the 3,000 Kasuga shrines spread throughout Japan. Since the lantern is a symbol of illumination it is believed by the Japanese that if you follow Shinto religiously, you will be saved from darkness.

Stone lanterns at Kasuga Taisha Shrine

Apart from seeing the stone lanterns along the path that leads to the shrine, one will also see free roaming deers.

Inside the shrine grounds, we saw vibrant, orange coloured  structures and various hanging bronze lanterns and a huge tree that is a 1,000 years old. 

Kasuga Taisha Shrine main hall

The 1,000 year old tree found at Kasuga Taisha shrine

Various lanterns hanging around the shrine

Visitors place the wooden blocks containing their wishes 
 in this area

We also went into one of the rooms in the shrine where we saw various lighted lanterns.

As we were walking around the shrine, we also saw a priest in a prayer ceremony.

After we walked outside the shrine grounds, we spotted a deer hanging out near the vending machines.

From Kasuga Taisha Shrine we walked and headed to the Todaiji Temple.

Todaiji Temple is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the world’s largest wooden building. It is one of Japan’s most famous and historically significant temple.

Todaiji Temple's outside area

In the temple’s Great Buddha Hall (Daibusuden), one will see one of Japan’s largest bronze  statues of Buddha which is at 15 meters tall. The temple is famous for housing the Vairocana Buddha (Buddha that shines throughout the world like the sun).

The Todaiji Temple is the largest wooden structure in
the world. 

The temple is made of wood and was rebuilt in 1709.

Vairocana Buddha is housed inside Todaiji Temple's
Daibutsuden hall.

The Buddha's open hand is as tall as a human being.

The temple is also the Japanese headquarters of the Kegon school of Buddhism. Just outside the temple, one will surely see visitors feeding special crackers to deers. The deers are believed to be messengers of the gods in the Shinto religion.

Exploring Nara and walking into the woods to visit the Kasuga Taisha Shrine and the Todaiji Temple was a good workout for us and being surrounded by nature and friendly deers was certainly a good experience.