Getting artsy at the Todaiji Temple...

I left the family at home and went on a base bus tour trip north for the weekend. A couple of my Bucket List items were to see the Big Buddha in Nara and to check out the ancient Japanese capital of Kyoto. Without the family tagging along, complaining about how they were hungry tired, thirsty or tired of waiting for me to get photos, I was able to allow my photo creativity to flow. Below are some of my favorite photos from the Big Buddha and the Great Buddha Hall (Daibutsuden in Japanese), where the Big Buddha is housed at Todaiji Temple. The hall is the largest wooden building in the world, and it is still a third smaller than the original building was before it was destroyed by fire. This hall was completed in 1709. The Buddha itself has also been reconstructed due to earthquake damage and other things through the centuries.

I am a huge fan of the texture of wood and metal, so the hall was a lot of fun for me. Of course I got the requisite photos of the Buddha, since that is the "big deal," but the hall itself interested my eye a lot more. So, here is what I chose to photograph... channel your inner artsy-fartsy person and enjoy!

Side note: I truly wonder what the craftsman was thinking when he made these gate bolts. Because you know it was a man.

After enjoying the Great Buddha Hall, I headed off to the Garden of Kasuga Grand Shrine... and yes, there were actually some items in bloom despite spring not yet having sprung. But that's in the next blog post...

Shameless plug: If you like these images, prints and other items (without the watermark, of course) are available on my website.