Art Festivals & Events

Omizutori, the popular name for the Buddhist rites of Shuni-e culminating each year at Tōdai-ji in the first two weeks of March, is a tradition dating back to the Nara period (710–784). Its rites of repentance are offered to the Bodhisattva Kannon (Skt. Avalokiteśvara) in the second month of the lunar calendar and take place in the Nigatsu-dō, literally “The Hall of the Second Month.” This Feature Exhibition presents works of art and material culture from the world of Omizutori, illuminating its history and the beliefs that have shaped it through statuary, painting, decorative arts, historical documents—and even the very robes worn by the rengyōshu: the Tōdai-ji priests undertaking Omizutori’s rigorous practices. Omizutori becomes all the more accessible through rare photographic and documentary film footage as well.