Yakushi-ji

Yakushi-ji
薬師寺
Yakushi-ji
The Golden Hall (kondō) at Yakushi-ji Map
Religion
AffiliationHossō
DeityYakushi Nyorai (Bhaiṣajyaguru)
Location
Location457 Nishinokyō-chō, Nara, Nara Prefecture
CountryJapan
Architecture
FounderEmperor Temmu
Date established680
Completed1995 (Reconstruction)
Website
www.nara-yakushiji.com

Yakushi-ji (薬師寺) 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 sites that are collectively inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site under the name of "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara."[1]

The temple's main object of veneration, Yakushi Nyorai, also known as "The Medicine Buddha", was one of the first Buddhist Deities to arrive in Japan from China in 680, and gives the temple its name.

  1. ^ "Yakushiji". Encyclopedia of Japan. Tokyo: Shogakukan. 2012. OCLC 56431036. Archived from the original on 2007-08-25. Retrieved 2012-06-06.