Omizutori

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The main event of Omizutori at Nigatsu-do, monks carry torches across the balcony.

Omizutori (お水取り), or Water-Drawing festival, is a Japanese Buddhist festival that takes place in the Nigatsu-dō of Tōdai-ji, Nara, Japan. The festival is the final rite in observance of the two week-long Shuni-e ceremony.

The rite occurs on the last night, when monks bearing torches come to the Wakasa Well, underneath the Nigatsu-dō Hall, which according to legend only springs forth water once a year. The monks draw water from the well and offer it first to the Bodhisattva Kannon, and then offer it to the public. It is believed that the water, being blessed, can cure ailments. The water is actually drawn into two pots, one pot containing water from the previous year, and another that contains the water from all previous ceremonies.