Japan Trip 2018 - Day 7 - Nara Park, Kasuga Taisha Shrine, Nigatsudo Hall, Todaiji Temple
8Day 7 was another glorious sunny day in the land of the rising sun. We started at Nara Station and met up with Hiro our private tour guide for the day.
First stop was Nara Park, home to over 1200 sika deer that freely roam the park. They amazingly bow three times by nodding their heads when visitors give them food.
Within the Nara Park grounds was Kasuga Taisha Shrine, a Shinto shrine of the Fujiwara family. The interior is famous for its many bronze lanterns, as well as the many stone lanterns that lead up the shrine. The deer are believed to be sacred messengers of the Shinto gods that inhabit the shrine and surrounding mountainous terrain.
Nigatsudo Hall was our next stop. It is home to the Omizutori which is a sacred water-drawing festival, a Japanese Buddhist festival that is the final rite of the Shuni-e ceremony where monks bearing torches go to the Wakasa well underneath the hall which according to legend only springs forth water once a year.
We also came across the Todaiji Great Bell which weighs 26.3 tons, dates from the time of the founding of Tōdai-ji. One of the Three Famous Bells of Japan, it is known for its long ring.
One of the most amazing structures I've ever seen is the Todaiji Daibutsuden or Great Buddha Hall. It houses the worlds largest bronze statue of Buddha, Vairocana known in Japanese as Daibutsu.
I also had a go at climbing through Buddha's Nostril, which is a large supporting post with a square hole in it that is said to be the same size as one of the nostrils of the huge statue of Buddha. If you can squeeze through the hole, you can apparently earn enlightenment in your next life!