Lotus Petals
Behind the Daibutsu are four large bronze lotus petals. In the middle of the Edo period (1603–1868), a project was begun to install a “lotus-flower throne,” a set of lotus petals around the platform on which the Great Buddha sits in meditation. However, the project was abandoned after only four of the petals had been completed, most likely for financial reasons. The names of each petal’s donors are inscribed on their surfaces.