Hi Deer!
久々に奈良の東大寺に行ってきたわよ。春日大社や奈良公園の近くなんだけど、もうあちこちシカ(鹿)だらけよ~。もう「鹿せんべい」なんて持ってたら大変。あれよあれよっていう間に何頭も寄ってきてさ、もう集団カツアゲ状態よ。昔はもっとお行儀よかったんだけどね。最近じゃ「お辞儀」するのも少ないわよ。人間社会を反映してるのか、礼儀作法がなってないわね!ちなみに、下のような注意書きもあったわよ。
幾多の試練を乗り越えた「古都奈良の文化財」
平成10年に世界文化遺産として登録。
Listed as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1998, the Temple has a Long History of Surviving a Series of Wartime Destruction.
Tō-dai-ji, literally meaning "a big temple in the east" was initially named "Kin-shō-ji" (Golden-Bell Temple), and built by Emperor Shōmu in 728, in memory of his son Motoi who died very young.
Later in 741, the emperor issued "the Imperial Edict to Construct Provincial Monasteries and Convents", in which the temple was designated as the Monastery of the Province of Yamato (presently Nara). Upgraded to the provincial category, the temple changed its name to "Kin-kō-myō-ji" meaning "Golden-Light Temple".
It was not until the Great Buddha Statue was built at this location that the temple began to be known by the present name of "Tō-dai-ji". Upon the consecration of the Buddha statue, the temple complex was restructured as a new and larger-scaled sanctuary including the Grand Hall with the Buddha statue enshrined. Located at the east of the capital Heijōkyō, the temple came to be referred as "the temple located eastward". A Shōsōin (Treasure) Repository archive includes the mentioning of the name "the Big Eastern Temple", virtually meaning "Tō-dai-ji".
The Shōsōin Repository was created as a storehouse to contain the belongings of Emperor Shōmu, which were donated by Empress Kōmyō, his widow, after his death.