Special Exhibition
Expressing Prayer, Capturing Form
Buddhist Sculptures by UNKEI from the Northern Round Hall of Kohfukuji Temple

The Northern Round Hall of Kohfukuji temple in Nara is widely known for its principal icon, the National Treasure Seated Miroku Nyorai and its flanking standing figures of Mujaku and Seshin Bosatsu, which are considered later-life masterpieces by Unkei, the central figure of Buddhist sculpture in the Kamakura period.

The Northern Round Hall, a rare example of a space that preserves the original configuration of Unkei’s figures, is typically not open to the public. However, to commemorate the completion of its restoration, special arrangements have been made for the Seated Miroku Nyorai to be exhibited outside the temple for the first time in approximately sixty years.

This truly exceptional project to recreate the interior of the Northern Round Hall as it would have been during its revival in the Kamakura period brings together seven National Treasure Buddhist statues—the Seated Miroku Nyorai figure, the Standing Mujaku and Seshin Bosatsu figures, as well as the Four Deva King figures, which were likely enshrined in the Northern Round Hall in the past.