Kofuku-ji - Nara, Japan
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denben
N 34° 40.948 E 135° 49.925
53S E 576221 N 3838146
Kofuku-ji is a Buddhist temple that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples, in the city of Nara, Japan.
Waymark Code: WMZC5V
Location: Nara, Japan
Date Posted: 10/17/2018
Views: 1
Kofuku-ji is the national headquarters of the Hosso school and is one of the eight Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Kofukuji used to be the family temple of the Fujiwara, the most powerful family clan during much of the Nara and Heian Periods. The temple was established in Nara at the same time as the capital in 710. At the height of Fujiwara power, the temple consisted of over 150 buildings.
Today a couple of buildings of great historic value remain, including a five story pagoda and a three story pagoda. At 50 meters, the five story pagoda is Japan's second tallest, just seven meters shorter than the five story pagoda at Kyoto's Toji Temple. Kofukuji's pagoda is both a landmark and symbol of Nara. It was first built in 730, and was most recently rebuilt in 1426.
While entrance to Kofukuji's temple grounds is free and possible around the clock, there are two areas that require paying an entrance fee: Kofukuji's National Treasure Museum and the Eastern Golden Hall. The recently renovated National Treasure Museum exhibits part of the temple's great art collection and is an absolute must-see for lovers of Buddhist art. Among the many outstanding exhibits is the three-faced, six-armed Ashura Statue, one of the most celebrated Buddhist statues in all of Japan.
The Eastern Golden Hall, located not far from the national treasure museum, features a large wooden statue of the Yakushi Buddha. Another pair of interesting buildings are the Northern and Southern Octagonal Halls. They both originally date back over a thousand years, and their present reconstructions were completed in 1210 and 1789 respectively. The buildings also house some of the temple's treasured artifacts, but are only open to the public a few days a year.
Kofukuji's main building, the Central Golden Hall, was destroyed in a fire in 1717 and - although a replacement hall was built on a smaller scale in the 1800s - the original Central Golden Hall was not reconstructed. In recent years, however, it was decided to rebuild the hall in its full former glory. Reconstruction works are currently ongoing, and the hall is scheduled to be opened in October 2018.
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