Great Buddha of Nara

E926015

Buddha statue colossal statue cultural property of Japan tourist attraction

The Great Buddha of Nara is a colossal 8th-century bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana housed in Tōdai-ji temple in Nara, Japan, and one of the most iconic and historically significant Buddhist monuments in the country.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (6)

Label	Occurrences
Great Buddha of Nara canonical	5
Nara Daibutsu	2
Great Buddha (Daibutsu) cult at Tōdai-ji	1
Nara no Daibutsu	1
Tōdai-ji Daibutsu	1
奈良の大仏	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T11433902 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Great Buddha of Nara
Context triple: [Emperor Shōmu, associatedWith, Great Buddha of Nara]

A. Great Buddha of Kamakura
The Great Buddha of Kamakura is a monumental 13th-century bronze statue of Amida Buddha, renowned as one of Japan’s most iconic and historically significant Buddhist sculptures.
B. Hall of Great Buddha
The Hall of Great Buddha is a principal worship hall within China's historic White Horse Temple, housing large Buddha statues and serving as a central site for Buddhist ritual and devotion.
C. Byakue Kannon statue
The Byakue Kannon statue is a towering white Buddhist monument of the bodhisattva Kannon in Takasaki, Japan, renowned as a local symbol and pilgrimage site.
D. Lingshan Grand Buddha
Lingshan Grand Buddha is a colossal outdoor bronze statue of the Buddha near Wuxi, China, and one of the largest Buddha statues in the world.
E. Big Buddha Temple
Big Buddha Temple is a famous Buddhist temple on Ko Samui in Thailand, known for its large golden Buddha statue overlooking the sea.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Great Buddha of Nara
Target entity description: The Great Buddha of Nara is a colossal 8th-century bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana housed in Tōdai-ji temple in Nara, Japan, and one of the most iconic and historically significant Buddhist monuments in the country.

A. Great Buddha of Kamakura
The Great Buddha of Kamakura is a monumental 13th-century bronze statue of Amida Buddha, renowned as one of Japan’s most iconic and historically significant Buddhist sculptures.
B. Hall of Great Buddha
The Hall of Great Buddha is a principal worship hall within China's historic White Horse Temple, housing large Buddha statues and serving as a central site for Buddhist ritual and devotion.
C. Byakue Kannon statue
The Byakue Kannon statue is a towering white Buddhist monument of the bodhisattva Kannon in Takasaki, Japan, renowned as a local symbol and pilgrimage site.
D. Lingshan Grand Buddha
Lingshan Grand Buddha is a colossal outdoor bronze statue of the Buddha near Wuxi, China, and one of the largest Buddha statues in the world.
E. Big Buddha Temple
Big Buddha Temple is a famous Buddhist temple on Ko Samui in Thailand, known for its large golden Buddha statue overlooking the sea.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (50)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Buddha statue ⓘ colossal statue ⓘ cultural property of Japan ⓘ tourist attraction ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Daibutsu of Nara ⓘ linked to: Tōdai-ji Nara Daibutsu ⓘ linked to: Great Buddha of Nara Tōdai-ji Daibutsu ⓘ linked to: Great Buddha of Nara
associatedWith	Empress Kōmyō ⓘ
commissionedBy	Emperor Shōmu ⓘ
completionDate	752 ⓘ
constructionEnd	752 ⓘ
constructionStart	743 ⓘ
country	Japan ⓘ
culturalPeriod	Nara period ⓘ
damagedIn	1180 fire ⓘ 1567 fire ⓘ 855 earthquake ⓘ
depicts	Vairocana Buddha ⓘ linked to: Vairochana Buddha
hasFeature	elongated earlobes ⓘ halo with small Buddhas ⓘ lotus pedestal ⓘ seated posture ⓘ ushnisha ⓘ
height	about 15 meters ⓘ about 49 feet ⓘ
heritageDesignation	National Treasure of Japan ⓘ linked to: National Treasures of Japan UNESCO World Heritage Site component ⓘ
influencedBy	Tang dynasty Chinese Buddhist art ⓘ
locatedIn	Japan ⓘ Nara ⓘ Nara Prefecture ⓘ Tōdai-ji ⓘ
locatedInBuilding	Great Buddha Hall of Tōdai-ji ⓘ linked to: Tōdai-ji
materialUsed	bronze ⓘ copper ⓘ gold ⓘ lead ⓘ tin ⓘ
purpose	object of veneration ⓘ state protection through Buddhism ⓘ symbol of imperial authority ⓘ
religion	Buddhism ⓘ
restoredIn	12th century ⓘ 17th century ⓘ
significance	iconic Buddhist monument in Japan ⓘ one of the largest bronze Buddha statues in the world ⓘ symbol of Nara ⓘ
style	Japanese Buddhist sculpture ⓘ
UNESCOWorldHeritageSitePartOf	Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara ⓘ
visitorAttraction	millions of visitors per year ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (11)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Emperor Shōmu → associatedWith → Great Buddha of Nara ⓘ

Great Buddha Hall → houses → Great Buddha of Nara ⓘ

bronze statue of Vairocana Buddha at Tōdai-ji → alsoKnownAs → Great Buddha of Nara ⓘ

subject linked to: bronze statue of Vairocana Buddha

bronze statue of Vairocana Buddha at Tōdai-ji → alsoKnownAs → Nara Daibutsu ⓘ

subject linked to: bronze statue of Vairocana Buddha