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KOTOKUIN TEMPLE
Kotokuin Temple is where The Great Buddha of Kamakura is located. Kotokuin Temple tours. Kotokuin Temple is in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
Kotokuin Temple (高徳院) is a Buddhist Japanese temple of the Pure Land sect. The Kotokuin Temple is renowned for the Great Buddha (大仏, daibutsu), a monumental outdoor bronze statue of Amida Buddha which is one of the most famous icons of Japan. The statue stands at 13.35 meters high and weighs approximately 93 tons.
Great Buddha Kamakura - Picture by
Jim Mills
Kamakura Tours
Organised tours from Tokyo to Kamakura are available. These tours also include the Great Buddha at Kotokuin Temple, Hase Kannon Temple, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine and Komachi Shopping Street. Further information and online booking are here.
Getting to Kotokuin Temple
See our section on Kamakura transport.
Kotokuin Temple History
The statue probably dates from 1252, in the Kamakura period, when temple
records report the construction of a bronze statue. However, it is unclear
whether that is the present statue. The statue was built inside a wooden
temple but that building washed away in a tsunami sometime during the
Muromachi period in the late fifteenth century. The statue remains.
The statue is referred to as 'The Buddha at Kamakura' in several verses that
preface the initial chapters of the novel Kim by Rudyard Kipling, 1901.
It is believed that the statue was originally cast in 1252, following an
idea by the priest Joko, who also collected donations to build it. The
sculptors were One-Goroemon and Tanji-Hisatomo.
The statue is approximately 13.35m tall and weighs approximately 93 tons.
The statue is hollow, and visitors can view the interior for a mere 20 Yen a
person.
The Great Buddha was originally
housed in a temple, but this was washed away by a tsunami in 1495, since
then the statue has stood in the open air. Repairs were carried out in
1960-1961, when the neck was strengthened and measures were taken to protect
it from earthquakes.
Great Buddha of Kamakura Statistics
Weight; 93 tons
Height; 13.35m
Length of Face; 2.35m
Length of Eye; 1.0m
Length of Mouth; 0.82m
Length of Ear; 1.90m
Length from knee to knee; 9.10m
Circumference of thumb; 0.85m
(Article based on Wikipedia article and used under the GNU Free Documentation License)
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