Japan Day 7, Part 5: Lizards, Dragons, Eagles, and Deer at Nigats-do and Sangatsu-do

The grounds of Todai-ji stretch out for some ways, and I wandered to some of the sub-temples. First up was Nigatso-do hall. On the way I noticed a brightly tailed lizard a temple wall. 

Nigatso-do hall sits on a hill and has a nice large balcony.

The balcony had a nice tripod on it, with demons for legs holding it up.

The hall's balcony was well situated. I've noticed that most Buddhist temples are placed on hilltops or mountain sides that make them more impressive and beautiful. People give up a lot to become monks, but at least they usually get a nice view.

There was a lot of dragon iconography in the hall. The fountain is one of the coolest dragon sculptures I've seen.

The ones on the ceiling were't bad either.

Some of the next buildings over were closed, and at first I thought the main hall of Sangatsu-do was among them. I was annoyed at myself for not going to Nara first, as I had originally planned, and then saw that the hall was in fact open, so it all worked out well. 

The hall had some nice wooden carvings. Even when being saved from certain death, no one in The Lord of the Rings looked half as serene while being carried off by giant eagles as this monk carved into the rafters, not even Gandalf.

Nara's deer know the temples well enough to take shelter from the sun in their eves.