Ceremony of Fire:
This is calle o-taimatsu. Every day, ten priests carry ten huge torches to the Nigatsu-do hall balcony to observe the first watch of the night. Visit Nigatsudo hall between 6pm-7pm to view this ceremony. On the 12th, 11 priests carry 11 torches to the balcony instead of 10 priests. This ritual is called dattan, and the priests, with big torches in their hands, run through the balcony. They perform hashiri no gyoho (the ritual of circumambulation), chanting, as they wave rods and swords to ward off evil spirits. Their huge shadows can be seen on the wall behind a veil. When the priests are revealed, they run, swinging their torches. You will see showers of flickering light and sparks from the burning torches. The sparks are said to have a magic power against evil, so people try to catch them. Don't run away from it and you'll get some good luck. It's believed that if a child wears a dattan hat, which was used for the dattan ritual, he or she will grow up healthly and have a happy future. So, on March 15th, a great number of women come early in the morning to ask the priests to put their dattan hats on their children's heads.
Ceremony of Water:
0-mizu-tori (water drawing ceremony) is the most famous ritual of shuni-e. It is practiced at about two o'clock in the morning of the 13th of March. The priests, led by torchlight, scoop up perfumed water from the Wakasa Well located below Nigatsudo. It is believed that this water can heal the aging process. Once a year, this water is scooped from the well to be given to the people and offered to the eleven-faced Kannon-image at Nigatsudo hall. The sacred water is poured into two pots. One pot is filled with water from the previous year. The other one is filled with water from the past rituals from 1,200 years!
Access: Take the Nara city bus Loop line to the Daibutsuden-mae stop from JR Nara or Kintetsu Nara station. To get to Nara from Kyoto and Osaka, it takes about 40 minutes by train.
