34°40′05″N 135°48′46″E / 34.668°N 135.812722°E
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/06/Daianji_Hondo01.jpg/300px-Daianji_Hondo01.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/South_Gate_of_Daianji_20150404.jpg/300px-South_Gate_of_Daianji_20150404.jpg)
Daian-ji (大安寺) was founded during the Asuka period and is one of the Seven Great Temples of Nara, Japan.
History
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/61/200730_Model_of_Daian-ji_at_the_time_of_foundation.jpg/260px-200730_Model_of_Daian-ji_at_the_time_of_foundation.jpg)
The Nihon Shoki records the founding of the Kudara Dai-ji (百済大寺), predecessor of the Daian-ji, in 639 during the reign of Emperor Jomei. A nine-story pagoda was added shortly afterwards.[1] Moved during the reign of Emperor Tenmu, excavations have uncovered the foundations of the site of the Daikandai-ji (大官大寺), as it was then known, seven hundred metres to the south of Mount Kagu.[2] Like the Yakushi-ji, and Gangō-ji, the temple relocated to the new capital of Heijō-kyō in 716–17, and it was rebuilt as the Daian-ji in 729.[3] Its importance declined when the capital moved again to Kyoto at the end of the Nara period. A succession of fires, a typhoon in 1459, and earthquakes in 1585 and 1596 destroyed most of the temple.[4] The stone bases of the former twin pagodas were removed for reuse at Kashihara Jingū in 1889,[5] while the ruins of the other buildings lie in adjacent properties.[3]
Treasures
The temple houses nine statues in a style known as Daianji-yoshiki, but the acclaimed statue of Sakyamuni, said by the twelfth-century Oe no Chikamichi in Shichidaiji Junrei Shiki to have been the finest work in Nara, is now lost.[3][6] The following Nara period statues have been designated Important Cultural Properties: a Jūichimen Kannon,[7] Senjū Kannon,[8] Fukūkensaku Kannon,[9] Yōryū Kannon,[10] Shō Kannon,[11] and a set of Four Heavenly Kings.[12] Temple records of the Tenpyō era (747) have also been designated an Important Cultural Property and are now held in Chiba Prefecture.[13]
See also
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Glossary of Japanese Buddhism – explanation of terms concerning Japanese Buddhism, Buddhist art, and Buddhist temple architecture
- Historical Sites of Prince Shōtoku
- Nanto Shichi Daiji
- Thirteen Buddhist Sites of Yamato