High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Saidai-ji or the "Great Western Temple" is a Buddhist temple in the city of Nara, Nara Prefecture, Japan. The temple was established in AD 765 as a counterpart to T dai-ji and it is the main temple of the Shingon Risshu sect of Buddhism after the sect's founder, Eison, took over administration in 1238. One building, the Aizen-d , houses a statue of Aizen My - , while the main image is of Shakyamuni Buddha, erected by Eison in 1249. Saidai-ji stands close to Yamato-Saidaiji Station on the Kintetsu Nara Line.