Middle Gate 中門

Official explanation

The magnificent Middle Gate marks the entrance to the inner temple area where the pagoda and main hall are located. Two fierce guardian deities known as Kongo Rikishi flank the gate, which was erected to protect the temple. These are Japan’s oldest clay sculptures. They have now stood guard over the gate for more than a thousand years.

Within the gate there are in fact two entrances to the Western Precinct. They stand side by side, forming what is known as a “split entrance.” The entrance is said to reflect the positioning of the buildings within the precinct. Unlike most temples of that time, in which the buildings stood in a straight line, one behind the next, here, the Main Hall and the Five-Story Pagoda stand side-by-side, mirrored by the gate’s split entrance design. Another feature of the gate is its eaves-supporting bracket complexes, designed to disburse the weight of the massive roof through thee multiple supporting columns.

出典: 地域観光資源の多言語解説文データベース（観光庁） — www.mlit.go.jp/tagengo-db. この英語解説文は観光庁の地域観光資源の多言語解説整備支援事業で作成しました。
Source: Japan Tourism Agency, Multilingual Explanation Database. This English text was produced by the Japan Tourism Agency's multilingual explanation project and is shown unedited. Opening hours and services may have changed since it was written.