We went to Nara on a cloudy day to learn more about this city. They were celebrating a big festival because of the 1300 years of the change of the Capital of Japan, for that reason, they were rebuilding the Heijo Palace. The rain really set the mood this day. It was really nice to see the audience hall almost floating in the fog on the far end of an enormous courtyard when we passed the big red wooden gate.
Already in the building, we could see the throne of the emperor protected by a golden phoenix located above it. The ceiling was covered with lotus flowers. Lotus flowers are well known and are very symbolic in Japan because even though they can grow in the mud, they are very beautiful.
After that we went to Todaiji temple where you can see deer everywhere, they are very comfortable with people and they will follow you everywhere so they can get food from you 🙂 It was very interesting to see people feeding the deer and laughing having a great time doing it. Once we got through the big crowd we could see Todajiji temple.
Seriously, Todaiji Temple is huge. One of the biggest I’ve seen, it has beautiful garden around it and you could see people wearing Yukatas (Summer Kimonos) everywhere. It feel like we were in a different dimension and time. Inside the temple, the biggest bronze Buddha on earth, it is 15 meters high but it doesn’t seem to big until you tried to go through his nasal. Yes… they opened up a hole on a pillar with the same size as his Nasal hole. People believe that you can get good luck if you make it through.
Once we got back to Uda, we had a lecture from a sword maker, we learn about this beautiful art, the design, the shapes and the history.
(Eve Marmen – Canada)
