The surviving buildings of Todai-ji Temple included Nigatsudo, Hokkedo, Shosoin, Nandaimon (literally "southern big gate"), Shoro (bell tower), Tengaimon (literally "the gate of shifting the evil") and Nenbutsudo (Buddha invocation hall); although the extent of destruction was smaller than in the burning of Nato by TAIRA no Shigehira during the Taira-Minamoto War, the very fact that Todai-ji Temple itself became a battlefield unlike in the past incident, in which the temple had caught fire from next door, and Daibutsu-den (the Great Buddha hall) itself was set fire shocked people both in and out of the area.
東大寺は二月堂・法華堂・正倉院・南大門・鐘楼・転害門・念仏堂などが焼け残り、被害そのものは源平の戦いの時に行われた平重衡の南都焼討よりも少なかったが、類焼によって炎上した前回とは違い、東大寺そのものが戦場になり、なおかつ大仏殿に直接火がかけられたと言う事実は内外に衝撃を与えた。