Toshodaiji Temple, the principal temple of the 30 temples of the Ritsu sect, was founded in 759 by Ganjin. The only buildings, which survive from the original foundations, are the Main Hall and Lecture Hall; the others are modern. Entering by the Nandaimon (Great South Gate; reconstructed 1960), the visitor comes to the Kondo (Main Hall), the largest and finest example of Tempyo architecture (49ft/ 15m by 95ft/ 29m). The pillared gallery is of classic beauty. The hall contains an 11ft/3.3m high seated statue of Rushana-butsu (dry-lacquer technique) by two of Ganjin's Chinese pupils, T'an Ching and Szu T'o. The magnificent halo was originally decorated with 1000 small Buddha figures, of which 864 remain. To the left is a Thousand-Handed 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.
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