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Friday, October14, 2005

Horyuji Temple

today had to be one of the strangest, but coolest days that i've had here so far. it was our weekly friday field trip around kyoto and our instructor greg was showing us around some of the famous temples. we first visited Horyuji Temple in Nara. This temple holds the oldest wooden structures in the world. inside the kondo (main hall) are large scale statues of buddha. we got this little reading on buddhism and did you know there are different types of buddhas? the scale of these things is pretty amazing too, it looks pretty small until you compare it to the people that are standing in front of the lantern! isn't that crazy?

a lot of the temples are still in existence in kyoto b/c it was not bombed in the last world war. from or readings too, temples are where mostly buddhist and this is where monks lived and practiced buddhism. shrines are related to the shinto religion and are dedicated to gods relating more to nature. but i'm sure it goes deeper than that.

Oldest Wooden Structure in the World - Todaiji Temple

187' Buddha at Todaiji Temple

after having lunch we proceeded to the Todaiji Temple (www.todaiji.or.jp). this place was ridiculous!!! we saw the biggest wooden structure in the world, the kannon hall (187 ft high!) inside once again are statues of buddhas, but the buddha inside was 49 ft. high. the scale of everything today just blew my mind.


there is also this hole in one of the columns, and it is said that it is about the size of the nostril of the statue of buddha. rumor has it that if you can push your way through the hole, it is good luck. so having done trials of luck at other temples, i said "WTF, i'll try it" so got down on my knees and went tried it. it was kinda hard at first, but once i got over being stuck inside for a little bit i made my way out. i think i almost got a cramp in there. how embarrassing would it have been to get stuck in there? and a crowd was forming too. so after that i got some great shots of nara at higher points on the temple grounds.







one thing to also note about this temple is that there are all of these deers running around! and you can totally pet them. some of them did get pretty aggressive though. my one friend bought some deer treats and there was one that was biting his butt trying to get him to give him some food! SCAVENGERS!!! but they weren't as bad as pigeons or seagulls. anyways, . i also walked into a deer field where there were easily over 200 deer. i was kind of afraid that they would attack me, but they didn't. they were more interested in eating and one large buck was more interested in well, bucking. this one buck would go and smell this one does ass and then he would mount her. i guess she wasn't as loose as other girls that he's been with b/c she totally left him hanging with this boner.





well that was it! surreal, but nice...