The World's Largest Bronze Buddha
On our second day in Kyoto we travelled by coach to Nara, a small town located about 60-minutes outside of Kyoto. Our first stop was the temple of Tōdai-ji to see the world's largest bronze statue of Buddha. Tōdai-ji (Eastern Great Temple), is a Buddhist temple complex, that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples. Its Great Buddha Hall (Daibutsuden), houses the 49 foot / 15m high bronze statue of the Buddha, known in Japanese simply as Daibutsu. The temple also serves as the Japanese headquarters of the Kegon school of Buddhism. The temple is a listed UNESCO World Heritage Site as one of the "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara", together with seven other sites including temples, shrines and places in the city of Nara. The Great Buddha Hall (Daibutsuden) has been rebuilt twice after fire. The current building was finished in 1709, and although immense—57 metres (187 ft) long and 50 metres (160 ft) wide—it is ...