Omizutori in Nara

Omizutori is the commonly used name for Shunie, a series of events held annually from March 1 to 14 at Todaiji Temple. This collection of Buddhist repentance rituals has been held every year for over 1250 years, making it the one of the oldest reoccurring Buddhist events in Japan.

Omizutori is performed at Nigatsudo Hall, a sub complex of Todaiji, which stands not far from the temple’s main hall on the slope of a hill. Nigatsudo literally means “second month hall”, referring to the second month of the lunar calendar, when Omizutori has traditionally been held. The second month of the lunar calendar roughly corresponds to March of the solar calendar.

Among the many different events held during Omizutori, Otaimatsu is the most famous and spectacular. Just after sunset on every night from March 1 through 14, giant torches, ranging in length from six to eight meters, are carried up to Nigatsudo’s balcony and held over the crowd. The burning embers, that shower down from the balcony, are thought to bestow the onlookers with a safe year.

Unfortunately i arrived a bit late to Nara (heavy evening traffic) and struggled to get a good sightseeing spot. I suggest you get there about 1 hour before the event to get a good spot. The fire shower show only lasts for about 20 minutes before it’s all over and they do switch the lights off to make the red glow of fire look even better. If you like to make pictures than make sure you either have a tripod (although it does get very crowded so tripods are a bit difficult to setup) … or a very fast lens.

Transport: Take the train to Kintetsu Nara Station and from there you can walk (about 15 minutes) through Nara park to the Nigatsudo-Hall.

Website: Official website is the one of the Todaiji temple. Japan Guide however has an excellent article about the festival details in English (of which i took the liberty to quote quite a bit).