The arrangement of buildings within the precinct of a Buddhist temple constructed between the late 7th century to 12th century. The position of buildings and the buildings themselves varied according to era, religious sect and the surface configuration of the land. The earliest temples were established in Nara. Excavations of the Asukadera 飛鳥寺 site and the Wakakusa 若草 site adjacent to present Hōryūji revealed two of the earliest arrangements of temple buildings. The Asukadera style asukadera shiki 飛鳥寺式, had three image halls *kondō 金堂, one in the west *saikondō 西金堂, one in the east *tōkondō 東金堂, and a third, the central chūkondō 中金堂, larger than the other two, was placed on the same axis as the south gate nanmon 南門, and middle gate *chūmon 中門. The pagoda *tō 塔 was placed forward from the chūkondō on the same axis, and situated exactly in the middle of the east and west pagodas. The three kondō and pagoda were surrounded by a corridor *kairō 回廊. The only access was through what were thought to be a belfry *shōrō 鐘楼, and a sutra storage area *kyōzō 経蔵 that were outside the corridor. The Shitennōji 四天王寺 style is exemplified by the latest rebuilding of the temple, Shitennōji in Osaka. It has one pagoda that is placed on the same axis as the south and middle gates. Beyond the pagoda and on the same axis are the image hall and lecture hall. The latter is set within the rear corridor. Outside the sacred enclosure are a belfry and sutra storage buildings and far to the rear, are the dormitories and refectory *jikidō 食堂. The excavation of the Hōryūji Wakakusa garan 法隆寺若草伽藍 proved to have the same configuration as Shitennōji. The Hōryūji style has one pagoda on the left and image hall on the right. Originally, the corridor beginning on each side of the center gate completely enclosed them. The lecture hall, belfry, and sutra repository were at the back outside the corridor. Dormitories were on either side. At a later date, the corridor was extended to include the lecture hall, the belfry, and sutra repository. The Kawaharadera 川原寺 site revealed that there was a west image hall with a pagoda facing it from the east, and a central image hall connected with another enclosure containing the belfry, sutra repository, and lecture hall. Kanzeonji 観世音寺 had the same plan as Yakushiji 薬師寺 in Nara, a plan that was typical in the 8th century. A corridor extending from each side of the middle gate terminated at each side of the lecture hall. There was one image hall and two pagodas, east and west. In line with the gates, hondō and kairō was the refectory jikidō. The Kōfukuji 興福寺 style follows a north-south axis plan. A corridor provides a protected passage from the middle gate to the image hall. The lecture hall, although on the same axis, is outside the enclosure. There are two image halls separated from the main axis. A refectory is located to the east, and Hokuendō 北円堂 (north octagonal hall) in its own enclosed compound on the west side. At Tōdaiji 東大寺, the pagodas are arranged outside the main complex to the east and west, and are enclosed in corridors. During the Heian period with the introduction of new Buddhist sects (Tendai 天台 and Shingon 真言 sects), temples were often built in mountainous areas resulting in an asymmetrical arrangement of buildings. Also because these sects are basically esoteric, new buildings for different purposes such as the *jōgyōdō 常行堂, *tahōtō 多宝塔, and kanjōdō 灌頂堂 were also built. Examples: Enryakuji 延暦寺, Jōgyōdō and Hokkedō 法華堂 (1594), Shiga Prefecture.; Negoroji 根来寺 Tahōtō 多宝塔 (*Daitō 大塔). Also during the Heian period two other sects of Buddhism, the Pure Land sects (Jōdo 浄土 and Jōdoshin 浄土真 sects) arose, and both had a special devotion to *Amida 阿弥陀 (Sk. Amitabha) who rules over the Western Paradise saihō 西方. During the 10th-11th century, when the power of the Fujiwara 藤原 clan was at its peak many large Pure Land temples were built under its aegis. Every effort went into making these temples replicas of the the Amida's Western Paradise. Fujiwara Michinaga 藤原道長 (966-1027) created a grand, palacial temple, Hōjōij 法成寺 in Kyoto. It is no longer extant but the assumed plan of the temple has been drawn by Fukuyama Toshio 福山敏男. The focal point was the *amidadō 阿弥陀堂 and faced a pond giving the temple a close relationship to the shinden style *shinden-zukuri 寝殿造. The Byōdōin 平等院 *Hōōdō 鳳凰堂 is a mid-11th century example. Temples with multiple Amida statues were popular, some housing as many as nine statues. The only example extant image hall is the Hondō 本堂 at Jōruriji 浄瑠璃寺 (1107) in Kyoto. (Also called Kutaiji 九体寺, lit. the Temple of Nine Images). It faces a pond and on the opposite side is a 3-storied pagoda, Sanjū-no-tō 三重塔 (12th century). New sects of Buddhism introduced in the 13th century, especially, the Zen sect, used a different plan in the arrangement of buildings and added new buildings needed for their particular religious worship. The large temples were again built on level ground on a north-south axis influenced by the Chinese seven hall arrangement shichidō garan 七堂伽藍. The seven buildings included: the Buddha hall *butsudō 仏堂, hall for meditation *hattō 法堂, kitchen *sōdō 僧堂, kubō 庫房 or *kuri 庫裡, entrance gate *sanmon 三門, sometimes interpreted as a spiritual entrance as well as physical entrance (see *sangedatsumon 三解脱門), latrine seijō 西浄, and bath house yokushitsu 浴室. These seven were the basic buildings but large Zen temples often added many traditional buildings such as a pagoda, tō, belfry, shōrō, drum tower *korō 鼓楼, the head priests quarters, *hōjō 方丈, and dormitories, shindō 寝堂. After the Ōnin 応仁 War (1467-77) in Kyoto, during which many buildings were burned down, many Rinzai 臨済 sect temples like Kenchōji 建長寺 preserved only the arrangement of the sanmon, Buddha hall, and hattō on a north-south axis. The Sōtō 曹洞 sect emphasized strict training and retained the plan of a kitchen, meditation hall and priests' quarters on an east-west axis. The Ōbaku 黄檗 sect style as seen at Manpukuji 萬福寺, a third type of Zen, was introduced in the 17th century and reflected the Ming dynasty temple arrangement, with a tennōden 天王殿 placed between the sanmon and the butsudō. The saidō 斎堂 and zendō 禅堂 were constructed on an east-west axis.
