Horyuji Temple is home to the oldest wooden buildings in the world. Horyuji Temple and its neighbor Hokkiji Temple were registered as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1993. A more in depth study of Horyuji’s pagoda, in 2001, led to the findings that Horyuji’s already ancient structures may actually be older than previously thought and recorded!
At the start of the 7th century Prince Regent Shotoku commissioned the construction of Ikaruga-dera, Horyuji’s original name, as a place dedicated to prayer for the recovery of his ailing father, Emperor Yomei. The temple was completed in 607 and a statue of the medicine Buddha, the Yakushi Nyorai, was enshrined in the temple’s main hall (though Emperor Yomei did not live to see the temple’s completion). Ikaruga-dera was both a seminary and a monastery, and it played an essential role in spreading Buddhism across Japan. According to Japan’s oldest historical record, the Nihon Shoki, a fire in the year 670 destroyed the temple in its entirety, prompting a relocation and reconstruction that was completed by the year 711. The temple underwent repairs, renovations and reconstructions in the early 12th century, 1374, and 1603. At the outbreak of World War II Horyuji’s 5-story pagoda, the oldest structure in the world, was dismantled and put into safe keeping and reassembled after the conflict. In 1950 a sample of the pagoda’s central pillar, the “shinbashira” or heart post, was taken and in 2001 it was analyzed using x-ray photography and dendrochronological tree ring counting. The results of these tests estimated that the Japanese cypress tree used in the pillar’s construction was felled in the year 594. The findings, though not 100% conclusive, suggest that the 5-story pagoda may not have been lost in the 670 fire and that it might possibly be the original 607 structure.
The present day Horyuji Temple complex is made up of the eastern To-in area and the western Sai-in area. The Sai-in is home to the aforementioned 5-story pagoda, the Kondo main hall, the Chuo-mon Central Gate, and the Daikodo grand lecture hall. Both the Kondo and Chuo-mon were completed in or around 711. The Kondo contains the original 607 Yakushi Nyorai Buddha statue (and several other priceless works of art) and the muscular Nio guardian statues in the alcoves on either side of the Chuo-mon gate are the oldest in Japan. A collection of Buddhist statues spanning the entirety of the Heian period (794-1185) is available for viewing in the Daikodo.
The Yumedono “Hall of Dreams” in the To-in is an original 739 structure housing a statue of Prince Regent Shotoku.
In all, Horyuji Temple is home to upward of 2,300 buildings, artifacts, artworks and relics that are declared to be Important National Historic and Cultural Assets. These artworks and Horyuji’s ancient architecture helped earn it the honor of being Japan’s first UNESCO World Heritage site in 1993. Entrance to Horyuji costs ¥1,500 for adults and ¥750 for children. Well worth it to experience a history and culture this venerable.
Works consulted:
Web Japan, sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan. "One hundred years older than supposed?: World Heritage Pagoda". Retrieved 2016-07-18. http://web-japan.org/trends00/honbun/tj010330.html
"Find rekindles debate over Horyuji Temple". The Japan Times Ltd. 2004-07-20. Retrieved 2016-07-18.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C5%8Dry%C5%AB-ji#cite_note-15
"Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area, UNESCO World Heritage". Retrieved 2016-07-18.
June Kinoshita; Nicholas Palevsky (1998). Gateway to Japan, "A Japanese Prince and his temple". Kodansha International. ISBN 9784770020185. Retrieved 2016-07-18
http://www.horyuji.or.jp/horyuji_e.htm
http://www.horyuji.or.jp/ (Japanese)
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B3%95%E9%9A%86%E5%AF%BA (Japanese)
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Provide this link and a copyright notice and the following information if you use any of the following 4 images:
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1. Horyuji (Horyu Temple) - 法隆寺, (Looking up from under the 5-story pagoda’s eaves), Xiaojun Deng, https://www.flickr.com/photos/hktang/14699273127
2. 法隆寺 Horyuji temple, (aerial photo of Horyuji), ume-y, https://www.flickr.com/photos/ume-y/9101065279
3. Horyuji (法隆寺), (Horyuji Temple 5-story pagoda through pine trees), Mith Huang, https://www.flickr.com/photos/mith17/6258155272
4. Horyuji Temple - Nara, Japan, (Horyuji temple buildings at angle in gravel yard), TravellingOtter, https://www.flickr.com/photos/travelingotter/14543515257