When was ise shrine built

Kotaijingu Naiku is the most venerable sanctuary in Japan. Here is a jinja Shinto shrine dedicated to Amaterasu-Omikami, the ancestral kami Shinto deity of the Imperial family.

She was enshrined in Naiku about 2, years ago and has been revered as a guardian of Japan. A divine palace of Amaterasu-Omikami stands here. The Holy Mirror a symbol of Amaterasu-Omikami is enshrined inside the main sacred palace at the innermost courtyard of the main sanctuary and the main palace is enclosed with four rows of wooden fences.

Pilgrims usually worship the enshrined kami in front of the gate of the third row of the fence. Some 1, years ago, this kami was, in accordance with a revelation from Amaterasu-Omikami, summoned and enshrined here. Toyo'uke-no-Omikami joins Amaterasu-Omikami in Jingu as her provider of companionship and sacred foods. She blesses us with abundant harvests and is the guardian of well-being, providing three essentials of human life: cloth, food and shelter. The architectural style of the divine palace of Geku is almost the same as that of Naiku but there is a hall called Mikeden, which is unique to Geku.

Hall for a personal prayer by offering kagura ceremonial music and dance. In addition to reinvigorating spiritual and community bonds, the tradition keeps Japanese artisan skills alive. It also involves the wish that Japanese traditional culture should be transmitted to the next generation. The renewal of the buildings and of the treasures has been conducted in the same traditional way ever since the first Shikinen Sengu had been performed years ago.

Scientific developments make manual technology obsolete in some fields. The atmosphere is timeless and many Japanese visitors say that visiting Ise is like going back into ancient times. The sacred mirror said to have been used by the goddess Amaterasu at the dawn of Japanese times is housed in the main shrine.

Only a few select people, such as members of the Japanese royal family, are allowed to see it. Ise has a strong bond with the goddess Amaterasu. In the Edo Period , it said million descended on Ise when rumors circulated that amulets were falling from the sky. Today Ise draws about 6 million visitors, most of them Japanese but few who regard themselves as religious. The people allowed in the main shrines are high-ranking priests.

There are approximately priests who work at the shrine. They are headed by the saishu Master of Ceremonies and assisted by Superintendent of Sanctuaries.

On Oharaimachi Street near the shrine area are old shops selling souvenirs and local specialities such as fried fish balls, skewered oysters, roasted chestnuts, sweet potato croquettes and, some say, some of the softest and tastiest mochi in Japan. In recent years the number of people going to Ise Shrine has rises as reports of special power spot therewith restorative and energizing powershave been widely circulated in lifestyle magazines and on its website.

In , more than 8 million people visited the shrine. Many of the visitors seeking the energy spot are women. Websites : Ise Shrine website: Isejingu isejingu. Daily ritual The main sanctuaries of Shrine of the Shinto Goddess Ise are beautiful austere structures made of new hinoke cyprus beams in what is said to be the purest and simplest style of Shinto architecture. Here, too, we can see how Japanese architecture has been shaped by the special qualities of wood, and how wood has carried the creations of Japanese architects on their own kind of voyage through time.

The architecture is base don the architecture of the traditional Japanese rice storehouse. The supporting columns pass through a raised floor and inserted directly into the ground. Responding more to natural principals than architectural ones, these columns are much thicker than is necessary to hold up the structure. They are the shape and thickness of a live tree and are placed in the ground and suck up moisture like a live tree.

No nails are used, only dowels and interlocking joints. The roof is thatched with miscanthus grass. The wood is unvarnished and unpainted, displaying the wild beauty of the cypress's natural texture. There are crossbeams at either end of the roof and large rounded logs on the ridge of the roof.

Protruding from the upper part of the gable at either end of the building are metal-tipped poles that add structural symmetry. Every sanctuary consists of two identifiable adjoining sites. Since the 7th century A. By performing this ritual the Japanese people receive renewed blessing from their kami and pray for world peace. The next time they will be rebuilt is in The reason for the periodic rebuilding is not clear. Some have suggested it is away of keeping traditional carpentry techniques alive.

Others believe it might have more to do with ancient tradition of rebuilding and relocated the palaces of a new emperor after the old emperor died. The sacred treasures and apparel which are offered to the kami are also remade. There are kind of sacred apparel, objects, treasures and 1, accessories.

They are all remade by skilled craftsmen in accordance with exact traditional specifications. After the new sanctuary is completed an elaborate nighttime ceremony, called the Offering of the First Fruit, takes place in which the symbols of the kami are placed in a series of special container and carried with in a long silk shroud, along with sacred treasures, apparel and accessories, from the old sanctuary to the newly constructed sanctuary. The wood from the old shrine is used to construct the tori gate at the entrance of the shrine or given to shrines elsewhere in Japan.

Among these 20 are considered major ceremonies. The annual rituals and ceremonies of the temple are intimately bound with nature and the seasons. In February prayers are offered for a plentiful harvest. In June men and women in traditional white and red costumes transplant rice seedlings to the music of sacred flutes and drums and dance and pray for a good harvest at the shrine honoring the deity of the rice paddy.

The most important ceremony, the Kannamesai, takes place in mid-October. The first grains of the rice harvest are offered to Amaterasu, first at pm and am at the Outer Shrine on October 15th and 16th and then at pm and am at the Inner Shrine on October 16th and 17th.

The offering are made with a silk cloth by a representative of the Imperial Household. According to myth, rice was given to the Japanese people as their staple food by Amaterasu. The rice for the sake and cakes used in the renewal celebration and other rituals comes from the same seven-acre paddies which has been used for thousands of year.

The field is irrigated with water from Isuzu River and the soil is fertilized with dried sardines and soy bean patties. In April trees are cut down to make rows for planting the seeds.