Tōdai-ji and Daibutsuden

Tōdai-ji (東大寺 Tōdai-ji^?, Eastern Great Temple),^[1] is a Buddhist temple complex located in the city of Nara, Japan.

Its Great Buddha Hall (大仏殿 Daibutsuden), houses the world's largest bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana,^[2] known in Japanese simply as Daibutsu (大仏).

The temple also serves as the Japanese headquarters of the Kegon school of Buddhism. The temple is a listed UNESCO World Heritage Site as "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara", together with seven other sites including temples, shrines and places in the city of Nara.

Sika deer, regarded as messengers of the gods in the Shinto religion, roam the grounds freely.

The Great Buddha Hall (Daibutsuden) has been rebuilt twice after fire. The current building was finished in 1709, and although immense—57 m long and 50 m wide—it is actually 30% smaller than its predecessor. Until 1998, it was the world's largest wooden building.^[12] It has been surpassed by modern structures, such as the Japanese baseball stadium 'Odate Jukai Dome', amongst others. The Great Buddha statue has been recast several times for various reasons, including earthquake damage. The current hands of the statue were made in the Momoyama Period (1568–1615), and the head was made in the Edo period (1615–1867).