Japan Guide
Nara
Tōdai-ji
For many people Nara is synonymous with Tōdai-ji. This great temple was founded in 745 by Emperor Shōmu, ostensibly to ward off the terrible epidemics that regularly swept the nation, but also as a means of cementing imperial power. It took more than fifteen years to complete Tōdai-ji, which isn't surprising when you learn that the main hall is still the world's largest wooden building. Even so, the present structure (last rebuilt in 1709) is only two-thirds the size of the original. Avoid visiting Tōdai-ji at weekends, especially during the spring and autumn, the two peak times for visiting Nara, when the temple is overrun with thousands of tourists.
The main entrance to Tōdai-ji lies through the suitably impressive Nandai-mon, or Great Southern Gate. Rebuilt in the thirteenth century, it shelters two wonderfully expressive guardian gods (Niō), each over 7m tall. Beyond, you begin to see the horned, sweeping roof of the Daibutsu-den, the Great Buddha Hall (daily: March– Oct 7.30am–5/5.30pm; Jan, Feb, Nov & Dec 8am–4.30pm; ¥500), which houses Japan's largest bronze statue. A fifteen-metre-tall, blackened figure on a lotus throne, the great Buddha (Daibutsu) seems to strain at the very walls of the building. It depicts Rushana (later known as Dainichi Nyorai), the Cosmic Buddha who presides over all levels of the Buddhist universe, and was a phenomenal achievement for the time.
Walk west from the Daibutsu-den compound and you'll find the more modest Kaidan-in (daily 7.30/8am–4.30/5pm; ¥500), which was established in 754 as Japan's first, and foremost, ordination hall. It was founded by a Chinese high priest, Ganjin, who Emperor Shōmu hoped would instil some discipline into the rapidly expanding Buddhist priesthood. He had to be patient, however; poor Ganjin's ship took six attempts to arrive here, by which time the priest was 67 years old and completely blind. His ordination hall was rebuilt in the Edo period, but the statues inside include eighth-century representations of the Four Heavenly Kings (Shi-Tennō). These small, beautifully crafted clay figures, each standing on a different demonic beast, protect a diminutive Buddha inside a wooden pagoda. 
www.todaiji.or.jp