Grand Stone Statue of Avalokiteshvara brought from India — Local services in Takatori

This is incredible! I was in Junior high when this statue was being carved in Karkala, Karnataka State, India! The place was close to our school in Karkala and I would go there frequently! I even met the chief Sculptor Mr. Gopala Shenoy one time! It was an amazing coincidence that I actually got to know that this very statue that was born in Karkala ended up here in Tsubosaka! The statue was carved in one piece from a single large granite monolith and cut into smaller pieces for transportation as it weighed well over a thousand tonnes! The Japanese provided all the cutting and lifting equipment and it was transported in pieces to be assembled in this temple! Mr. Gopala Shenoy also carved more than a thousand smaller statues that are placed all over Nara! I was almost in tears when I saw this statue once again in Japan! Sadly, Mr. Gopala Shenoy passed away in 1985 a few years after completing this project! He is also the sculptor for other incredible statues like the Bahubali statue in...

This so beautiful I have never seen such a huge Buddha statue in my life . This is the ending of temple . And the view from here...

高取城から下ってくる途中、繁みの奥に大きな観音像、、、 清少納言が枕草子に綴った壺阪寺の境内の一部のようです

県道119号線（阿須賀清水谷線）を挟んで両側に壷阪寺の敷地があって、入山をすれば観音像の近くにも寄れるみたい 入山料は800円と看板にありました

道沿いに観音像側に上がるように設置されたと思われる歩道橋があった、登り口には動物園とかにありそうな回転ドア これが樹木に覆われてすごい廃墟感を醸し出しています

119号線を道なりに進めば閉業した食堂があって、昔は商売が成り立つほど参拝客が集まったんだな、と勝手に想像してノスタルジーに浸りました、、、季節営業かもですけど

ちなみに壷阪寺は通称で、南法華寺が正式な名称みたい 京都の清水寺が北法華寺と呼ばれていたのに対してで、創建が703年と大変歴史のあるお寺です

車で上がって来られるみたいで、駐車場がかなりの台数あります（有料） 観桜...