Page 232 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Japan

7 " The nine rings (kurin)
HORYU-JI of bronze.
of the finial are made

法隆寺 Four scythes, a feature
unique to Horyu-ji’s
! D5 ⌂ Nara Prefecture £ JR Yamatoji line from destroyed by lightning.
pagoda, are said to
stop it from being
EXPERIENCE Western Honshu daily ∑ horyuji.or.jp/en
Nara, then 20-min walk @ From Kintetsu Nara Stn or
Kintetsu Tsutsui Stn to Horyu-ji-mae stop # Feb 22–
Nov 3: 8am–5pm daily; Nov 4–Feb 21: 8am–4:30pm
Regarded as the cradle of Japanese Buddhism, the
Horyu-ji complex is also thought to contain some
of the world’s oldest surviving wooden structures,
dating from the early 7th century.
The temple was erected by Prince
Shotoku (573–621) in his effort to
entrench Buddhism alongside Shinto
as a pillar of the Japanese belief system.
Some exceptional works of art, including
ancient images of the Buddha, are Ornamental
housed here. Horyu-ji’s star attraction, roof clays are
is the 105-ft- (32-m-) high five-story made of
pagoda, which is the oldest one of bronze.
its kind in Japan. Japanese pagodas
originated in China, where they had
developed from the Buddhist stupa in
ancient India. The symbolism of such
buildings is sub ject to debate. Some say
that a five-story pagoda represents the Wind chime
elements, as shown; others disagree and
say that pagodas have an odd number
of floors because Chinese numerology
claims that this make them lucky.

A fragment of the
Buddha’s bone is
enshrined in the
central pillar’s base.
The central column is fashioned
from a single cypress tree. Columns
A golden bodhisattva sitting at Horyu-ji are almost Greek in
beside the Buddha at Horyu-ji style, a legacy of the Silk Route.
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