Todaiji
Title
Todaiji
Publisher
Lawrence Technological University
Date Created
August 5, 2015
Alternative Title or Name
Nandaimon
Great South Gate
Creator2
O’Connor, Thomas (photograph)
Work Type
Single Built Works
Date
April, 1972
Work Location
Japan (nation)
Nara (inhabited place)
Style/Period
Japanese architecture styles
Subject
temples (buildings)
gate towers
Japanese Buddhism
stairs
Description
View of stairs leading up to the Great South Gate (Nandaimon) at the Todaiji Temple precinct in Nara, Japan. "Rebuilt in 1199 after fires and wars, the gate is set up on a high stone podium reached by a run of stairs, and has an exposed timber frame structure holding up a heavy ceramic tile roof. The most imposing element of the gate is the elaborate bracketing joined to the columns, which support the extended roof eaves. The gate is grand and imposing, a proper style for the temple that was built to be the main Buddhist temple in Japan at the time … The largest, most imposing, and elaborate gates represent a change from the outside or profane world to that of the sacred Buddhist precinct,"--from Traditional Japanese Architecture: An Exploration of Elements and Forms, by Mira Locher.
Material/Medium
wood (plant material)
Reproduction Type
jpeg
Copyright Statement
©2013 Lawrence Technological University. These images may be used for personal or educational purposes. They are not available for commercial purposes without the explicit permission of LTU.
ID Number
LTU-TOJ-110
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