The Japanese festival Omizutori

Today we are travelling from the luxury hotel in Spain Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa to Japan to talk about one of the most important celebrations in the country: the Omizutori festival.

Omizutori is an annual Buddhist festival held for the two first weeks of March at the Todaiji Temple in Nara. Todaiji has the world’s largest bronze Buddha and is also the largest temple in the country. Omizutori is one of Japan’s oldest festivals. It has been held since 752.

March 12th holds the main celebration of the festival, the water-drawing ceremony. It is performed at the Nigatsudo, sub-complex of Todaiji Temple. The Renhyoshu go up and down the stairs of the Nigatsudo holding a torch for drawing water from one of the wells of the temple.

According to the legend, the well is dry for the rest of the year. This water is said to have special properties for curing all diseases. This sacred water is offered to the big Buddha statue and to the believers at the rite. For this reason the festival is called Omizutori.

During the two weeks of celebration, every night, giant torches are lit at Nigatsudo hall. This ritual is called Otaimatsu and it is considered to be the most spectacular event of the Omizutori. These giant torches are held over the crowd so that embers rain down. These burning embers give luck to onlookers for the rest of the year.

The ritual ends with the Dattan ceremony, which is also held at the Nigatsudo. It finishes with the sound of horns and bells and the lighting of torches.

If you like festivals and celebrations, we suggest you to visit the 5 star resorts in Spain Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa. You will feel Asian tradition and culture from the first moment you walk in.