Nara - Toshodaiji Temple

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Kannon (dry lacquer, 18ft/ 5.5m high), to the right a statue of Yakushi-Nyorai, also in dry lacquer technique, which are attributed to Ganjin's pupils Szu T'o and Jua Pao. The hall also contains two 5 ½ ft/ 1.7m high wooden statues (Bonten and Taishakuten) by Chun Fa-li and a seated wooden figure of Dainichi-nyorai (12ft/ 3.7m high) of the early Heian period.

Beyond the Main Hall we reach the Kodo (Lecture Hall), which was originally the assembly hall of the Heijo-kyuden Imperial Palace and was brought here when the temple was founded. The original style has been badly distorted by restoration work carried out by Chun Fa-li (759) and by later repairs. The finest piece of sculpture in this hall is the 8ft/ 2.4m high figure of Miroku-bosatsu by Chun Fa-li. Note also the statues, carved from a single piece of cypress wood, of Jikokuten and Zochoten. To the right of the Lecture Hall is a long building containing priests' quarters (Higashimuro, at north end) and the Cult Hall (Raido, south end). In front of this building is the Drum Tower (Koro or Shariden), where the Uchiwa-maki festival is celebrated in May.

To the east of the priests' quarters are two buildings in Azekura-zukuri technique - the Kyozo (Sutra Library) to the south, the Hozo (Treasury) to the north. The new Treasury, Shinhozo (1970), contains paintings, manuscripts and fragments of sculpture. To the northwest, surrounded by a wall is the Mieido (Portrait Hall), which contains a dry lacquer statue of Ganjin (30in/ 80cm high), carved in the year he died. The hall is open only on June 6. From here a path leads to the tomb of Ganjin.