In the Great Hall at Nara

                                                                                                            jhhymas

This is one of the huge temple guardians in the Great Hall at Nara. 

For information on these figures, which have a rich and varied tradition 
through many countries and centuries

see the Wikipedia article "Nio" at this link.

A highlight of the visit to Japan in 1997 was a trip to Nara, 

where we visited the Great Buddha Hall, an immense wooden building 

that was erected to house a huge bronze statue of the Buddha. 

The previous wooden structures were destroyed by fire.

For the history of this temple, see the Wikipedia article "Todaiji"

Basho also visited this site before the third iteration of the temple was completed.

kiku no ka ya | Nara ni wa furuki | hotoketachi

     

scent of chrysanthemums

in Nara

ancient Buddhas

   

Basho

      

hatsu yuki ya | itsu Daibutsu no | hashira date

        

first snow!

when will the temple building start

for the Great Buddha?

   

Basho

Great Buddha's Hall--

I buy a charm for 

earthquakes

      

June Hopper Hymas

  

(There was a shop at Todaiji, where one could purchase little paper charms. 

Since I lived in California, I thought an earthquake charm might be the most useful.)