Feeding Deer at Todaiji Temple

In front of Todaiji Temple (photo by Lorenzo)

Today we went to Todaiji Temple, home of the largest bronze statue of Buddha in the world and one of the largest wooden structures in the world. The temple is in Nara, about an hour south of Kyoto by train. Amazing to think the temple and its complex date back to the 8^th century.

The first thing you notice when approaching Nara Park is all the deer! In the Shinto religion, deer are messengers of God so they roam freely around the whole park. There are deer of all shapes and sizes. Vendors sell rice cracker senbei to feed them and the deer anxiously await their food. Some of them are quite determined but luckily the more aggressive ones seemed to have had the antlers removed.

Feeding the deer

We bought deer food twice. The first time, we didn’t know what we were doing. It must have been clear to the deer as they just grabbed it out of our hands and headbutted us if we refused to give in. That said, they sure posed well for photos, and if we weren’t holding food, they were quite a delight to watch.

Making friends

Baby

Todaiji Temple is a sight to see. When you come around the corner, it is hard to believe the size of it. It really is pretty impressive.

Todaiji Temple

The fam in front of the temple

Inside the temple, the Buddha looms high above you. I didn’t get any shots to put this guy in perspective but he is about 50 feet high and 500 tons of bronze.

Largest bronze statue of Buddha in the world.

As you walk around the inside of the structure, one of the large beams has a small hole at the bottom. It is said that if you can squeeze through the hole, you will have good luck. School children were lined up to attempt their luck.

All three of my boys tried too. Elio went first. Easy.