We woke up at 4:30 a.m. to hear the reading of the sutras by the monks at Manjukupi.
No cameras were allowed, but it was an incredible event to watch. It began with one monk hitting a gong rhythmically as the others streamed into the temple almost like a scene from a movie.
They bowed and began reading the sutras from their prayer books in a steady chant. The chanting became more intense as the rhythm of the gong picked up, and after about twenty minutes, they left as quickly as they had come in to move to their next prayer site for the morning.
No cameras were allowed, but it was an incredible event to watch. It began with one monk hitting a gong rhythmically as the others streamed into the temple almost like a scene from a movie.
They bowed and began reading the sutras from their prayer books in a steady chant. The chanting became more intense as the rhythm of the gong picked up, and after about twenty minutes, they left as quickly as they had come in to move to their next prayer site for the morning.
The temple where the monks read the sutras
We had breakfast at the temple. The monks served us rice porridge with pickled radish, seaweed, and pickled plumbs to put in the rice. Then it was back to bed to get a few extra minutes of shut eye.
The crew at breakfast
At 8:30, we boarded a tour bus for Nara, about an hour's drive from the temple. Nara is famous for its eight ancient temples and shrines, as well as for being the capital of Japan during the 8th century.
Nara is also well-known for its outgoing deer population. Like Miyojima (where I my map was eaten), the religious sites of Nara double as a safe haven for huge groups of deer that are treated as sacred objects and admired by tourists. The deer have gotten so comfortable with the attention that they can be a bit overly friendly sometimes (see pictures below).
There were so many deer!
This one was kind enough to take a selfie with me
Yup, they can pretty vicious
Zach is surrounded by deer as they try to steal a rice
cracker out of his hand (one of them actually bit his butt)
Our first stop in Nara was at the Todai-ji temple, which is home to the largest buddha statue in the world. The buddha is 50 feet tall and its ears alone are more than eight feet wide. It's hard to understand just how large that is until you've seen it - it's even bigger than it sounds.
The structure housing the buddha was once the largest wooden building in the world, and was actually 30 percent bigger than its current size before it was burned down during a civil war in the 1700's, only to be rebuilt a short time later.
The structure housing the buddha was once the largest wooden building in the world, and was actually 30 percent bigger than its current size before it was burned down during a civil war in the 1700's, only to be rebuilt a short time later.
The entrance to the temple
The temple itself
The buddha!
It even had its own baby buddha
We walked around Nara, stopping at several of the other temples and shrines to admire their beautiful craftsmanship. Our tour guide told us many of the structures took less than a year to build - an amazing accomplishment if you consider their builders had to cut down the trees to build them and then craft the wood into ornate, complex designs.
We had a great sushi lunch (I'm not tired of it yet) before heading up the mountain on our bus. The view from the top was amazing. A group of deer grazed on the grass, as innocent and peaceful as animals could be, and we could see all of Nara and the surrounding area below us.
Lunch: a variety of raw fish on top of rice, miso soup, and tofu
What a happy family!
After we got off the mountain, we headed back to Kyoto and checked in at the hotel where we will be staying for the next two nights, which is inside the Kyoto train station. This is probably the nicest place we've stayed thus far. I will miss the monks from last night a little, though.
The hotel has a really cool location: right in the middle of a train station
After dinner at a ramen place inside the station, we got some dessert at a crepe stand. I usually think of crepes as a French specialty, but they seem to be big in Japan. Everywhere we have been - Tokyo, Hiroshima, and now Kyoto - has had crepes. This time I got one with whipped cream, banana, and caramel, which was delicious.
Waiting for our crepes
They had a large selection
Mine was yummy
We ended the night by taking part in another classic Japanese activity: singing karaoke. I had never tried it before, but we all had a good time belting out songs like "Let it Be," by the Beatles; "Trouble," by Taylor Swift; and "Don't Stop Believing," by Journey.
Figuring out how to pick songs from the Japanese-only touchscreen
Tomorrow is our last full day before heading back to Tokyo. I will be looking for a present to bring back to my host family as well as some things for friends and family back home, so let me know if you have any requests in the comments!
No gifts necessary, but we will be looking forward to a karaoke performance - maybe at Denizens?
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ReplyDeleteOE above. Love the group photo, sounds like a great day!!
ReplyDeleteSorry about that, my bad! It was an awesome day.
DeleteNara and the deer ... my favorite place. Loved the photos from atop the mountain (w/deer) .... never went there. Want to go.
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