was a

Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhism, Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat, khurul and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in B ...

established during the

Asuka period The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710, although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato period, Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after the ...

in the Ōbara neighborhood of the city of Sakurai,

Nara Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,321,805 and has a geographic area of . Nara Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the ...

, Japan. The temple no longer exists, and its ruins have been protected as a designated a National Historic Site since1927.

Overview

The Ōbara temple ruins are located on the northern foot of the Ryumon Mountains, on a slightly elevated spot behind a Tenman-gu shrine on the southern outskirts of Obara village. Since no

archaeological excavation In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

has been conducted, the details of the temple, such as the size and layout, remain unknown. However, the foundation of the temple is known from an inscription on the "Ōbara-dera Three-Storied Pagoda Fuchibachi" owned by

Tanzan Shrine , also known as the Danzan Shrine, the and the , is a Shinto shrine in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, Japan. It is located 5km from Ishibutai Kofun. History The shrine traces its origin to a Tendai temple built in the Asuka period (538 – 7 ...

. (A ''fuchibachi'' is a part of the spire at the top of a pagoda). This ''fuchibachi'' was designated as a

National Treasure A national treasure is a structure, artifact, object or cultural work that is officially or popularly recognized as having particular value to the nation, or representing the ideals of the nation. The term has also been applied to individuals or ...

as an important source of ancient epigraphy, and states that Nakatomi Ōshima, an aristocrat and poet of the

active in both domestic and foreign affairs during the reigns of

Emperor Tenmu was the 40th Emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 天武天皇 (40) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan'', p. 53. He ascended ...

and

Empress Jitō was the 41st emperor of Japan, monarch of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 持統天皇 (41)/ref> according to the traditional List of Emperors of Japan, order of succession. Jitō's reign spanned the years from Jitō period, 68 ...

, secretly vowed to build a temple in memory

Prince Kusakabe was a Japanese imperial crown prince from 681 until his death. He was the second son of Emperor Tenmu. His mother was the empress Unonosarara, today known as Empress Jitō. Kusakabe was the sole child of his mother. According to ''Nihon Shok ...

, but died before fulfilling his vow. After Nakatomi Ōshima's death, Princess Nukata started construction in 694, and built a Main Hall housing an image of Shaka Nyōrai. The three-story pagoda was completed in 715. Princess Nukata was once

's wife, a ''

Man'yōshū The is the oldest extant collection of Japanese (poetry in Classical Japanese), compiled sometime after AD 759 during the Nara period. The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan's poetic compilations. The compiler, or the last in ...

'' poet, and there is a theory that she was Nakatomi Ōshima's wife in her later years. The remains consist of the six-meter-square foundations of the pagoda, with a circular

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

core stone with a cylindrical hole in the center about in diameter and about deep with a small groove carved to the outside to allow moisture to escape. On the west side is an area thought to be the remains of the Main Hall, with several foundation stones remaining, and a thirteen-story stone pagoda from the late

Kamakura period The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...

. However, the foundations stones may no be in their original locations. Among the

roof tile Roof tiles are overlapping tiles designed mainly to keep out precipitation such as rain or snow, and are traditionally made from locally available materials such as clay or slate. Later tiles have been made from materials such as concrete, glass ...

s collected at the site was a round tile with a compound petal eight-petal lotus pattern and a flat tile with a biased

arabesque The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foliate ...

pattern, which appear to be similar to those used in the original

Yakushi-ji is one of the most famous imperial and ancient Buddhist temples in Japan, and was once one of the Seven Great Temples of Nanto, located in Nara. The temple is the headquarters of the Hossō school of Japanese Buddhism. Yakushi-ji is one of the ...

temple in Asuka. Obaradera, toushinso-1.jpg, Foundation stone of the pagoda Obaradera, soseki.jpg, Foundation stones

References

External links

Sakurai City home page
{{Authority control Buddhist archaeological sites in Japan Historic Sites of Japan Sakurai, Nara Asuka period

Overview

See also

References

External links