Nara - Chuguji Temple

Chuguji Temple was a nunnery of which the abbesses were originally members of the Imperial family. The temple contains an expressive wood figure of Nyoirin-Kannon (6ft/ 1.8m high), said to be the work of Shotoku, and the Tenjukoku Mandara, a fragment of the oldest known work of embroidery in Japan (7th C). The mandara, originally 16ft/ 4.8m long, was worked by Shotoku's widow and her ladies-in-waiting and depicts scenes from life in the Asuka period.