Ōtori taisha

Coordinates: 34°32′12.7″N 135°27′38.7″E / 34.536861°N 135.460750°E / 34.536861; 135.460750
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Ōtori taisha
大鳥大社
Haiden of Ōtori Taisha Map
Religion
Ōtori-zukuri [ja]
Date establishedc.Nara period
Website
Official website
Glossary of Shinto

Ōtori Shrine (大鳥大社, Ōtori Taisha) is a Shinto shrine located in Nishi-ku, Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It is the ichinomiya of former Izumi Province.[1] The shrine's main festival is held annually on August 13.[2]

Shrine name and legend

The shrine has been called variously as Ōtori-daimyōjin (大鳥大明神) or Ōtori-no-Ōmiya (大鳥大神宮) in the past. Although Ōtori Jinja (大鳥神社) is the correct name, “Ōtori Taisha” has gained widespread popular acceptance. According to the shrine's legend, its foundation has strong connections with the Yamato Takeru mythology. According to the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, as the folk hero Yamato Takeru was returning home after his conquests in eastern Japan, he feel ill after blasphemy against the deity of Mount Ibuki and died in Ise Province. However, after he was buried in a burial mound, a white heron emerged from the tomb and flew westward. It stopped at two places (and kofun were built at each location) before disappearing to the heavens. However, per the legend of this shrine, the white heron made one final stop at the Chigusa-no-mori (千種森), a forest in Izumi Province, where this shrine was later built.[3]

Enshrined kami

The kami enshrined at Ōtori Jinja are:

History

There is little documentary evidence and it is uncertain when this shrine was first built. Architecturally, the buildings are constructed in the Ōtori-zukuri (大鳥造) which is believed to be a very ancient style of

Izumo Taisha.[4] The first mention of the shrine in documentation comes from an entry in the Nihon Kōki dated 823 AD, in which the Imperial Court requested that the shrine pray for rain. The name also appears in the Shoku Nihon Kōki and the Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku, either in connection with prayer srelating to weather, or promotions in the shrine's official status. By the time of the 923 AD Engishiki, the shrine is styled as the only shrine in Izumi Province to be a Myōjin-taisha (名神大社) and as an indication of its importance, an imperial messenger was dispatched to attend its annual Niiname-no-Matsuri. During this period, the shrine was under the control of Shinpu-ji (神鳳寺), a Buddhist temple said to have been founded by Gyōki in either 708 AD or 740 AD. The temple had close connections with the Five regent houses of the Fujiwara clan. During the Kamakura period, branches of the shrine were built at many locations around the country, mostly in connection with shōen estates controlled by the Fujiwara, and around this time the shrine came to be called the ichinomiya of Izumi Province. During the premodern period, the main kami worshipped at the Ōtori-daimyōjin was Amaterasu
, although the shrine's connection with the Yamato Takeru myth was well-known, and Yamato Takeru was enshrined as a secondary kami.

During the

Meiji restoration, when Shingu-ji was destroyed and Ōtori Jinja reemerged as a purely Shinto shrine. In 1871, the shrine was designated an Imperial Shrine, 1st rank (官幣大社, Kanpei-taisha) under the Modern system of ranked Shinto shrines, and in 1876, after reevaluation, the resident kami was changed from Amaterasu to Ōtori-no-muraji-no-oyagami (大鳥連祖神), who was identified with Ame-no-Koyane, the ancestor of the Fujiwara clan. This caused a backlash from the shrine; however, despite vehement ongoing protest, the ruling was upheld by the government in 1896. Ongoing efforts to make Yamato Takeru the resident kami were also ignored by the government, and it was not until 1961 that the shrine was able to install Yamato Takeru next to Ōtori-no-muraji. The main shrine building was destroyed by lightning on August 15, 1905, and the current Honden was rebuilt in December 1909.[3]

The shrine is five minutes on foot from

JR West Hanwa Line.[5]

Gallery

  • A torii gate at the entrance of a shrine
    A torii gate at the entrance of a shrine
  • Honden
    Honden
  • Statue of Yamato Takeru
    Statue of Yamato Takeru

Festival

The shrine holds a Danjiri Matsuri’' festival is held every year on the weekend of the first week of October.[5]

  • Danjiri Matsuri at Ōtori taisha
  • At grounds of Ōtori taisha.
    At grounds of Ōtori taisha.
  • At grounds of Ōtori taisha.
    At grounds of Ōtori taisha.
  • A priest of Ōtori taisha prays for the safety of the festival.
    A priest of Ōtori taisha prays for the safety of the festival.
  • Torii gate of the main entrance to Ōtori taisha
    Torii gate of the main entrance to Ōtori taisha
  • Videos of Danjiri Matsuri

See also

References

  1. ^ "Nationwide List of Ichinomiya," p. 1.; retrieved 2011-08-010
  2. ISBN 978-4634150867
    .
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-4569669304
    .
  4. ^ http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm130/peacefulapricot/Otori%20Jinja%20and%20Sumiyoshi%20Taisha/P4200061.jpg [bare URL image file]
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-4582945614
    .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ōtori-taisha.
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