OMIZUTORI: FIRE AND WATER IN NIGATSUDO HALL

Omizutori is a festival held in Nara during the first two weeks of March to welcome spring. It is one of the oldest festivals in Japan, held since 752.

Although several events take place during the festival, the most spectacular is called Otaimatsu. Every night large torches are carried on the balcony of Nigatsudo in a beautiful pyrotechnic show that lasts about twenty minutes. A large crowd gather at the foot of the building to witness the spectacle, so it is advisable to arrive early if you want to find a good place.

The event which gives its name to the festival takes place in the nights of 12 and 13 at 1.30am. The monks descend several times the building stairs to carry water from a well located at the base of the temple. It is said that this water has cuerativos powers and that only flows once a year.

Omizutori Festival

Omizutori Festival

Omizutori Festival

Omizutori Festival

Omizutori Festival

After loading the holy water inside the temple it is celebrated Dattan, a mysterious private ceremony. Although the entrance is forbidden, many visitors remain to presence the ceremony from outside the temple, from where can be heared the sound of horns, bells, and can be glimpsed the lights of torches carried by monks in procession inside the building.

The festival is held in the Nigatsudo, a Todaiji's subtemple located outside of the current boundaries of the main building. Since it is over a hill, a beautiful view of Nara Park can be glared. Nigatsudo means "February hall", specifically the second month of the lunar calendar, corresponding to March of the solar calendar.