Kasuga Taisha Shrine

Built in 768 as an ancestral deity to the powerful Fujiwara house and restored several times over many centuries, the Kasuga Taisha Shrine is one of the most important Shinto Shrines in Japanese history. Seated in the centre of the beautiful lush wooded forest, the walk to the shrine is equally beautiful, lined by an astonishing number of old moss covered stone lanterns (about 2000 of them) on both the sides of the pathway. This walk leading to the building is followed up almost immediately by another astonishing sight that evokes a sense of amazement and awe: from the ceiling of the shrine are suspended a series of bronze lanterns arranged aesthetically, running its count in thousands.
To see the lanterns all lit up; try planning your visit in early February and mid August during the times of the Mantaro festival. Besides the lanterns, the shrine houses many buildings which can be checked out by ambling in the grounds - for free. Also roaming freely on the grounds are the extremely adorable and mostly docile deers of the Nara Park waiting to be fed with their favourite food of crackers. To enter the shrine however, you need to pay a fee which gives you a ticket to explore all the internal treasures of the shrine.