deer diary, today i saw...
I know, I know, it's a really awful pun but after you've been to Nara to sample it's wondrous temple delights you'll be coming away with only one thing on your mind too. The shear number of deer wandering around the city park is bordering on the obscene and thanks to tourists both international and Japanese, every one of them hound the visitors for any possible treats hidden in the depths of their trouser pockets.
Now I really understand the plight of the unfortunate fellow that had his JR Rail Pass scarfed by a pocket-picking rogue deer. And why JR's Nara Office was so quick to issue a new one, things like this must happen on a much too regular basis.
Getting beyond the deer though for just a moment, Nara is a beautiful place whose large expanses of woodland and parks, and low-rise buildings barely justify the title of town let alone the grandeur and claustrophobia of a Japanese city.
This does however make for a welcome change of pace and perfectly frames the monumental Todai-ji whose main hall, founded in 745 AD, is still the world's largest wooden structure today. Walking through the suitably impressive Nandai-mon gateway to the south the stage is ample set as you pass by two great statues of the guardian gods. In the distance the Daibutsu-den (Great Buddha Hall) raises its horned head, teasingly revealing just enough to keep you interested for the journey left between the two of you.
Inside, the largest bronze statue in Japan, a fifteen metre tall Buddha, sits peacefully upon a lotus throne. Flanked by smaller, but equally impressive statues it's easy to understand why this place played such an important role in securing the imperial power of Emperor Shomu, despite nearly bankrupting the nation.
Leaving the grounds you are left to tangle with the deer once again as you fight your way around the parks and the wooded trails where, thankfully, fewer tourists also means fewer deer. A win-win I think. This area, although not as grand as the Daibutsu-den, houses some working shines where Shinto Priestess go about their business caring for the shines in the eerily quiet woodland. If ever there was a perfect mesh between man and nature, it is here amongst these structures; absolutely stunning.
Now I really understand the plight of the unfortunate fellow that had his JR Rail Pass scarfed by a pocket-picking rogue deer. And why JR's Nara Office was so quick to issue a new one, things like this must happen on a much too regular basis.
Getting beyond the deer though for just a moment, Nara is a beautiful place whose large expanses of woodland and parks, and low-rise buildings barely justify the title of town let alone the grandeur and claustrophobia of a Japanese city.
This does however make for a welcome change of pace and perfectly frames the monumental Todai-ji whose main hall, founded in 745 AD, is still the world's largest wooden structure today. Walking through the suitably impressive Nandai-mon gateway to the south the stage is ample set as you pass by two great statues of the guardian gods. In the distance the Daibutsu-den (Great Buddha Hall) raises its horned head, teasingly revealing just enough to keep you interested for the journey left between the two of you.
Inside, the largest bronze statue in Japan, a fifteen metre tall Buddha, sits peacefully upon a lotus throne. Flanked by smaller, but equally impressive statues it's easy to understand why this place played such an important role in securing the imperial power of Emperor Shomu, despite nearly bankrupting the nation.
Leaving the grounds you are left to tangle with the deer once again as you fight your way around the parks and the wooded trails where, thankfully, fewer tourists also means fewer deer. A win-win I think. This area, although not as grand as the Daibutsu-den, houses some working shines where Shinto Priestess go about their business caring for the shines in the eerily quiet woodland. If ever there was a perfect mesh between man and nature, it is here amongst these structures; absolutely stunning.
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Yuo make nara sound a really nice place to visit,it seems to be infecting you with its beauty,why not try a little japanese poetry to capture your feelings about the place. Dad