Kotoku-in (高徳院) is a Buddhist temple of the Pure Land sect in the city of Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
The temple is renowned for the Great Buddha (大仏, daibutsu), a monumental outdoor bronze statue of Amida Buddha which is one of the most famous icons of Japan and the national treasure of Japan. The statue stands at 13.35m (45 ft.) high and weighs approximately 93 tons.
The statue probably dates from 1252, in the Kamakura period, when temple records report the construction of a bronze statue. However, it is unclear whether that is the present statue. The statue was built inside a wooden temple, but that building washed away in the tsunami of 20 September 1498 during the Muromachi period in the late fifteenth century. The statue remains.
Visitor Info.
Entrance fee: 200 yen. Open from 7:00 am to 17:30 pm. You can enter inside of daibutsu which you have to pay extra 20 yen. Only new years- eve, it open mid-night to see lighten up daibutsu.
Access
0. at Kamakura Station.
1. use Enoden to Hase Station (9 min.)
2. walk north (10 min.)