According to the from 780, in September 764 the retired
Empress Koken requested the construction of a gilt bronze statue of the
Four Heavenly Kings to pray for the end of the
Fujiwara no Nakamaro Rebellion. In October of the same year, Empress Koken re-enthroned as
Empress Shōtoku. The following year, in 765, the aforementioned statues of the Four Heavenly Kings were completed and Saidai-ji Temple was founded. These four statues are still enshrined in Saidai-ji's Shiōdō Hall, but only the demons that each statue steps on are from the time of the temple's founding, and the statues themselves have been replaced by later works. At the time of Saidai-ji's founding, the monk
Dōkyō held great influence in the political world, and it is believed that Dōkyō's ideological influence was also great in the construction of Saidai-ji Temple. The temple's name of "Saidai-ji" is a counterpoint to the great national temple of
Tōdai-ji and thus a challenge to the existing political and religious power structure. The temple in its initial form was a huge complex and was counted as one of the
Seven Great Temples of Nara. It has two Main Halls: the Yakushi Kondō and the Miroku Kondō, numerous smaller halls (including the Shio-do, Juichimen-do), and twin five-story pagodas on the east and west. According to the "Zaizairyuki-cho", these halls housed many Buddhist statues and were decorated with many mirrors. In the Miroku Kondō alone, a total of 77 Buddhist statues were placed, and the Yakushi Kondō housed 21 statues. However, the temple fell quickly into decline during the
Heian period, and many of its halls and pagodas were lost to fires and typhoons, and it came under the control of
Kofuku-ji. The temple was restored in the
Kamakura period by the monk
Eison. He began the restoration in 1238 and over a 50 year period worked to transform the temple into a center for social welfare work, especially to help the poor and sick. Many of the Buddhist statues and crafts that remain at the temple today were created during the time of Eison. The temple also produced many noteworthy priests, such as
Ninsho, who worked to restore ruined temples of various provinces, including several of the
kokubunji temples. In the
Muromachi period, the temple was burned down in December 1499 during the wars of the early
Sengoku period, and its surviving East Pagoda was destroyed by a fire in 1502. During the
Edo period, the temple received a fief of 300
koku from the
Tokugawa shogunate and began reconstruction. All of the current temple buildings were rebuilt after the Edo Period. Saidai-ji became independent from the
Shingon sect in June 1895, and established the Shingon Ritsu sect. The temple houses numerous
National Treasures and
Important Cultural Properties. The precincts of Saidai-ji were designated a
National Historic Site in 1965. == Building list ==