Muroji

Muroji is a Shingon Buddhist temple on the forested slopes of Mount Muro in Uda City, founded in the late 8th century. It earned the name Women's Koya because it welcomed female worshippers throughout the centuries when the great Shingon headquarters at Mount Koya strictly prohibited women from entering. Its delicate five-story pagoda, standing just over 16 meters, is the smallest outdoor pagoda in Japan and stands gracefully among towering cedar trees, creating one of the most photographed scenes in Nara Prefecture. The Kondo and Mirokudo halls house remarkable early Heian-period Buddhist sculptures with a distinctive, powerful style. Climbing the long stone stairway through the ancient forest to the inner sanctuary feels like a pilgrimage into another age, with each season bringing its own beauty from cherry blossoms and rhododendrons in spring to fiery maples in autumn.