The Kibi-ike temple ruins had a layout patterned on Hōryū-ji, with a main hall to the east and a pagoda to the west, and the style and date of the excavated ancient roof tiles suggest that this temple was built in the first half of the 7th century.

During this period, Daian-ji, along with Gangō-ji, was one of the two major schools of Sanron Buddhism in Japan.

Sanron Buddhism was established by Kashō Daishi Kissō (549-623) during the Sui Dynasty.

Dōji, a student of Kissō and a monk who stayed in Tang China for 16 years, brought a new translation of the Golden Light Sutra, which was considered a scripture to protect the country, to Japan and was the head abbot of Daian-ji.

After the capital was moved to Heian-kyō, Kūkai was appointed as the head priest of Daian-ji Temple in 829.

In 949, the West Pagoda was burned down by lightning, and on March 1, 1017, a major fire broke out, destroying all the buildings except for the honzon Shaka Nyorai statue (said by the twelfth-century Oe no Chikamichi in Shichidaiji Junrei Shiki to have been the finest work in Nara)ref name="Heibonsha"/>[4] and the East Pagoda.

The stone bases of the former twin pagodas were removed for reuse at Kashihara Jingū in 1889,[6] while the ruins of the other buildings lie in adjacent properties.

The six of nine Nara period statues surviving at Daian-ji have been designated Important Cultural Properties.

As no statues matching these names can be found in the "Daian-ji Temple Asset Register" from 781, they are thought to have been made after that time.