Ōmiwa Shrine
The Ōmiwa Shrine is a Shinto shrine in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, Japan.[1] It is unique because it does not contain any sacred objects or images, as it is dedicated to the nearby Mount Miwa.[2] People think its practice of using a Kannabi as its shintai is what original shrines did.[3] The shrine is also the patron of Japanese sake brewers.[4]
| Ōmiwa jinja 大神神社 | |
|---|---|
 Large torii in front of Mount Miwa | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Shinto |
| Deity | Ōmononushi Ōnamuchi Sukunahikona-no-kami Mount Miwa |
| Location | |
| Location | 1422 Miwa, Sakurai-shi, Nara-ken |
  Shown within Japan | |
| Geographic coordinates | 34°31′44″N 135°51′10″E / 34.52889°N 135.85278°E |
| Website | |
| www | |
 Glossary of Shinto | |
Architecture
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The Ōmiwa Shrine is in a peaceful forest and is built facing Mount Miwa. There is a very old Japanese cedar tree on the shrine grounds that people believe is holy. The shrine has Mount Miwa as its Shintai, which means that it worships the mountain as a deity, and it does not have a honden. It uses the mountain as a Kannabi[5]
The buildings in the shrine are decorated with Borromean rings. These rings represent the three rings, which is significant because the word "Miwa" is written using the kanji for "three" (三) and "ring" (輪).
The torii on the sandō of the Ōmiwa Shrine is very tall, measuring 32 meters and was built in 1984. It is the second tallest torii in Japan. The shrine also has an ancient gate called shime torii, made with only two posts and a rope known as shimenawa. The shrine has a unique feature known as a "triple-torii" or miwa torii. Unlike most torii gates, the miwa torii has doors that restrict access to the mountain that it enshrines..[4]
The buildings at Ōmiwa Shrine include structures that were built from ancient times up to the Edo period, which lasted from 1603 to 1868.
Related pages
changeReferences
change- ↑ Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1964). Visiting Famous Shrines in Japan, pp. 252-286.
- ↑ (in English) Ōmiwa Shrine site
- ↑ Tamura, page 21
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Scheid, Bernhard. "Bekannte Schreine - Religion-in-Japan" (in German). University of Vienna. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
- ↑ Tamura, Yoshiro (2000). "The Birth of the Japanese Nation". Japanese Buddhism - A Cultural History. Tokyo: Kosei Publishing Company. pp. 21. ISBN 4-333-01684-3.
Other websites
change- Official Site (in Japanese)
- Official Site (in English)