The deer at Kasuga Taisha have the freedom to roam - and beg
Announcement of the Shika-Yose (Deer Call) in Nara Park, which begins today…
The Shika-Yose or Deer Call is a seasonal event of the ancient capital of Nara that first started in AD1892, whereby the sound of a natural horn is used to call out to the deer in Nara Park.
The deer in Nara Park are wild animals designated as a protected species. It was said that at the time the Kasuga Grand Shrine, a World Heritage Site, was first built, the god of Kashima Shrine came in a white deer when it was transferred to the new shrine. Since then, they have been revered as messengers of the gods and thus carefully protected.
The Shika-Yose will be conducted in an area known as the Tobihino in Nara Park. As the sound of the horn reverberates, the view of about a hundred deer appearing from deep within the forest is a splendid sight indeed. Do come and enjoy a sight that can only be experienced in Nara in a Nara Park that is enveloped in the still and refreshing morning air of winter.
Date and Time: Feb 1 (Sat) – Mar 16 (Sun) 2014, From 10:00 am (about 15 minutes)
(*Except for Feb 3, 10, 17, 24 and Mar 3, 10)
Venue: Tobihino, within the grounds of the Kasuga Grand Shrine (south side of Kasuga Grand Shrine Sando)
Access: Take the city loop bus from JR / Kintetsu Nara Station and walk minutes from the Kasuga Grand Shrine Omote-sando bus stop, or 20 minutes walk from Kintetsu Nara Station.
The water basin honours the shrine's sacred animal, which the Buddhists at nearby Todaiji adopted too as a sacred animal in honour of Buddha's first sermon after enlightenment in the Deer Park at Benares, thus making the animal doubly blessed.
One happy deer grazing happily on sacred grass. Kasuga is noted for its lanterns, with 1000 hanging lanterns and 2000 stone lanterns. The total of approx. 3000 equals the number of its branch shrines,
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