A Buddhist temple complex that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples, Tōdai-ji's Daibutsuden (大仏殿, Great Buddha Hall) houses the world's largest bronze statue of the Buddha, Vairocana, known in Japanese as Daibutsu (大仏). The current Daibutsuden was built in 1709, and was the world's largest wooden building until 1998.
Once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples, Kōfuku-ji is the national headquarters of the Hossō school. It was originally established in 669 in what is present-day Kyoto, moved in 672 to the new capital of Fujiwara-kyō, before being dismantled and moved to its present location, on the east side of the newly constructed capital of Heijō-kyō (today's Nara).
Originally established in 768. Kasuga-taisha is the shrine of the Fujiwara clan, which dominated the Japanese politics of Heian period (794–1185). The interior is famous for its many bronze lanterns, as well as the many stone lanterns that lead up the shrine. From 1871 through 1946, Kasuga Shrine was officially designated one of the Kanpei-taisha (官幣大社), meaning that it stood in the first rank of government supported shrines.
The original Yakushi-ji was built in Fujiwara-kyō, Japan's capital in the Asuka period, commissioned by Emperor Tenmu in 680 to pray for recovery from illness for his consort, who succeeded him as Empress Jitō. It was disassembled and moved to Nara eight years after the Imperial Court settled in what was then the new capital.
Originally founded in 759 by the Tang dynasty Chinese monk Jianzhen, Tōshōdai-ji is a temple of the Risshū sect of Buddhism. Its kon-dō (Golden Hall) has a single story, hipped tiled roof with a seven-bay-wide facade, and is considered the archetype of "classical style."
The imperial residence and the administrative centre in the Japanese capital city Heijō-kyō (today's Nara) for most of the Nara period (710 to 794 AD), Heijō Palace was abandoned after the capital moved to Kyoto in 794. Nothing was left by the 12th century, but archaeological excavations and reconstructions since 1959 have restored much of the site.
A primeval forest of about 250 hectares (620 acres) near the summit of Kasuga-yama (Mount Kasuga), Kasugayama Primeval Forest contains 175 kinds of trees, 60 bird types, and 1,180 species of insects. In this area adjacent to Kasuga Grand Shrine, hunting and logging have been prohibited since 841.
