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Hannyaji Temple
Category: Temple

Built in the end of 6th century, Hannyaji-temple became a temple to protect the kimon or the gate facing the north-east of the former capital, Heijō-kyō. Since it is located at an important point on the Nara Kaidō road, many of the temple structures were lost to fires caused by various outbreaks of war. However, temple treasures such as the rō-mon gate (National Treasure) from the Kamakura period, known for its elegant beauty, the thirteen-story stone pagoda built by a mason called I-no Yukisue from Sung Dynasty China, which is the one of the largest in Japan, and the statue of the bodhisattva Monju riding a lion with its powerful design and shape, are all impressive. It is also known as the Flower Temple, since it possesses flowers blooming in each of the four seasons such as cosmos, daffodils and kerria japonica, etc. It is a breathtaking view when the flowers of cosmos fill the temple precinct, and that is why it has come to have another name, the Cosmos Temple.