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photos from around nara on the 8th of april 2003. we went to ujibyoudouin, todaiji, kofukuji, horyuji and visited the deer in nara park.

ujibyoudouin (or sometimes just byodoin) was build in 1052 by yorimichi fujiwara [the fujiwaras were one of the most powerful families in japan at the time, aone of the driving forces behind the unification of japan]. it is a remote temple on the outskirts of nara, as usually with very pretty gardens. inside are a pair of gorgeous gold and jade phoenixes, a large series of beautiful wooden carved bodhisattvas, and other replicas of decorations around the temple.

todaiji was build in 752 at the hehest of emperor shomu. it is set in the enormous nara park, along with thousands of semi-tame deer that roam and are feed by tourists. todaiji is famous for the enormous gold "great buddha" inside the main building.

kofukuji was built in 710 by fuhito fujiwara [another member of the fujiwara clan], and contains a giant five story pagoda along with many other temple buildings.. and a few building sites! it contains a museum with many interesting buddhist statues, although many look decidedly hindi!

horyuji was built in 607 by prince shotoku, and is one of the earlies large temples in japan. it has more interesting old buildings (although in my opinion the earlier architecture is not so pretty, as say that from the edo period onwards), and a huge museum full of interesting trinkets.

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