The Great Buddha of Nara and its nostril/奈良の大仏と鼻の穴

The Great Buddha of Nara is the biggest in Japan, which is about 15 meters tall, made of bronze, located in Todaiji temple.
In addition, the Colossal Hall of the Great Buddha is famous as the biggest traditional wooden frame construction in the world.
It was originally built in the middle of the 8th century to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Buddhism.
Around that time, people suffered from drought, famine and epidemic, also a huge earthquake hit Japan, so the society of Japan was quite unsafe.
That’s why the Emperor Shomu decided to make the country under its protection.
The eye-opening ceremony for the Great Buddha was conducted by an Indian monk named Bodaisenna.

Later the hall where the Buddha was located, was destroyed by fire twice because of the wars.
So the recent Buddha was rebuilt around the late 17th century, which is only three fourth size of the original one.
You can compare the differences in the color of its face, body and pedestal.
The face is roughly 330 years old, while the body is about 840 years old. And then, the pedestal is approximately 1300 years old.

Behind the statue, there is an opening which has the same size as a nostril of the Great Buddha at a pillar.
If people can go through the opening, it’s said that they can live happily for a year or they become clever.
Due to the pandemic, it’s closed now.
How about visiting it after its restriction is lifted?

【Translation for language learners of either English or Japanese】/英語・日本語学習者向け翻訳えいご　・　　にほんごがくしゅうしゃむ　　ほんやく

奈良の東大寺盧舎那仏像は日本で一番大きく、十五メートルあり、銅でできています。
大仏殿も、世界最大の伝統的な木造建築として有名です。
仏教伝来二百周年を記念して、八世紀の中頃に作られました。
その当時、干ばつや飢饉、疫病や巨大地震により国民は苦しんでおり、日本社会は極めて不安定でした。そこで、聖武天皇は仏の御加護により国を守ろうとなさいました。大仏開眼供養の儀式は、インドから菩提僊那という高僧が招かれ、執り行われました。
のちに、大仏殿は、戦禍によりより二度焼けています。直近に再建された大仏は、十七世紀後半のもので、当初の四分の三しかありません。
顔と、胴体、台座の色の違いを比較できます。
顔・胴体・台座は、それぞれおよそ三百三十年、八百四十年、千三百年です。

仏像の背後の柱には、大仏の鼻の穴と同じサイズの穴が開いています。
もしその穴を通り抜けることができるなら、一年間幸せになれる若しくは賢くなれるといわれています。
コロナの影響で現在は中止されている模様です。
この制限が解除されたら、訪れてみてはいかがでしょうか。

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