Kasuga-taisha, Shinto shrine in Kasugano-chō, Nara, Japan
Kasuga-taisha is a Shinto shrine in Kasugano-cho, Nara, at the foot of Mount Mikasa. Its four honden stand side by side in the Kasuga-zukuri style, each a small square hall with a cypress-bark roof, forked chigi finials and vermilion pillars. A vermilion torii with a white sign reading 春日大社 and 千二百年 marks the approach.
The Fujiwara family established the shrine in 768 as a religious center of their power. Over the centuries it was rebuilt roughly every 20 years following ancient Shinto practice.
The shrine's emblem is the descending wisteria, and its Fujinami-no-ya hall displays about 1,000 donated hanging lanterns. During the Setsubun Mantoro on February 3 and Chugen Mantoro on August 14–15, all 3,000 lanterns are lit at once.
The shrine sits about 30 minutes on foot from Kintetsu Nara Station through a quiet park full of deer. Buses run directly to the entrance if you prefer to shorten the walk.
Over 3000 stone and bronze lanterns line the paths and were donated over centuries by worshippers. On special occasions all are lit at once and transform the shrine into a sea of flickering light.
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