Home - Half Way to Paradise
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Great Buddha Hall of Todai-ji Temple in Nara |
If pure land Buddhism standing on the apex of an arched bridge brought you closer to paradise, then the temple roof must be halfway there. This article takes a look at some of the more unusual aspects of temple design and their roofs in particular.
The Todai-ji Great Buddha Hall in Nara is reputed to be the largest wooden structure in existence. The present Hall stands 49m high and 57m by 50m in plan and was rebuilt in 1692 at two thirds of its original size! The bronze statue of Vairocana (cosmic) Buddha sitting on a 3m high lotus leaf is some 20m high and weighs many tonnes. The central cusped roof provides a window onto the Buddha’s face. The Hall was originally flanked by two 100m seven-storey pagodas in a complex of halls and monks quarters.
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Stepped and simple roof support brackets of the Great Buddha Hall in Nara |
Temple design was quite sophisticated even in the 8 th C and utilised a modular system of relative proportions. The roof is canted outwards using a complex system of brackets where the posts of each module are surmounted with a bearing block (masu) and a bracket arm (hijiki). These may well support other higher blocks and brackets forming a stepped bracket complex (mitesaki – a three stepped bracket complex). The picture shows the corner of the Great Buddha Hall and illustrates the effect while the other picture shows greater detail of a simpler bracket.
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Various roof materials of the Meimei-an Teahouse |
Roofs were constructed from cryptomaria and cypress timbers finished with glazed pottery tiles, cryptomaria shingles, miscanthus thatch or cypress bark. The section of roof shown is of the Meimei-an teahouse in Matsue and illustrates the use of three such roofing materials. The lower roof section is covered with cypress bark strips often built up in layers of up to 150mm thick. The middle roof section is shingled on a bamboo rafter and batten structure with up to 12 thicknesses of small shingles approximately 300mm by 75mm wide. The upper roof is thatched with miscanthus up to 250mm thick.
Roofs often carry a variety of embellishments with special end tiles carrying the local daimyos (or other sponsor) motif. The series of pictures illustrate some of the ridge embellishments from both Himeji castle and Todai-ji temple complex and represent dragons, fish and the devil.
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Dragon tile at Himeji Castle |
Fish tile at Himeji Castle |
Devil finial at Kodai-ji in Kyoto |
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Daigo-ji Pagoda near Kyoto |
The most impressive buildings however are the pagodas. These are to be seen as 3 or 5 storey buildings. The pagoda enshrines symbolic relics of the Buddha whilst the adjacent Golden Hall houses his image. A central post runs through the pagoda from its upper-most roof to the foundations. The corner posts of the pagoda is generally only about 6m apart which makes the whole structure appear to be highly unstable from a structural viewpoint. Some of them have endured many earthquakes in their history.
The picture shows the five-storey pagoda at the Daigo-ji temple complex. This style was brought from China , which itself has been developed from the ancient Indian stupa. It is said that the roofs represent the five elements earth (first), water, wood, wind and sky. The building is finished with a traditional nine-ringed bronze finial (kurin) – half way to paradise.
This article was written by David Burgess of Jade Pavilions.
Copyright Jade Pavilions 2005.
Manufacturers of award winning, configurable oriental teahouses, pavilions, bridges and entrances. More information about Jade Pavilions.
