Built in 743 at the instigation of Emperor Shomu, Todai-ji revolves around the main pavilion Daibutsu-den, whose gigantic proportions (48.5m high and 57m wide) are far from coincidental. The wooden structure houses the enormous bronze statue of a National treasure, the Cosmic Buddha, Daibutsu Vairocana, seated in ecstasy upon a lotus leaf, 15m high and weighing 200 tons. Other masterpieces languish in the secondary Hokke-do temple, which houses a group of some 15 statues, the most impressive of which is a praying Kannon.