When established, it was a large temple, which was included in the Seven Great Temples of Nanto having magnificent buildings consisting of Yakushikondo (kondo [golden hall] for Yakushi [healing Buddha]), Mirokukondo (kondo for Maitreya-bodhisattva), Shitendo (hall for shitenno), Juichimendo (hall for Juichimen Kannon [eleven-faced Kannon, Goddess of Mercy]), five-story pagodas on the east and west and so on.
創建時は薬師金堂、弥勒金堂、四王堂、十一面堂、東西の五重塔などが立ち並ぶ壮大な伽藍を持ち、南都七大寺の1つに数えられる大寺院であった。