Kasuga Taisha was founded in 768 as a tutelary shrine of Heijyo-Kyo, a capital in Nara, and the Fujiwara family. A thousand beautifully crafted bronze lanterns hanging round the outer eaves are donated over the years by supplicants. They are lit up twice a year for the Mantoro (\u201dten-thousand lantern\u201d)festival on February 3 and during Obon, the festival of souls in mid-August for Chugen Mantoro festival. The bronze lanterns and the nearly two thousand stone lanterns, which line the path leading up to the shrine, are lit at dusk.
Another good time to visit Kasuga Taisha is early May when the dozens of varieties of wisteria are in bloom. You also see wisteria on the hair ornament of shrine maiden. The Mt. Kasuga behind Kasuga Taisha was believed to be a sacred mountain where Shinto deity lives. Kept as strictly primeval forest, climbing plants like wisteria is abundant.<\/p>\n\n\n
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