Honden

Izumo Taisha's honden, closed to the public

The honden (本殿, main building), also called shinden (神殿) is the most sacred building at a Shinto shrine, intended purely for the use of the enshrined kami, usually symbolized by a mirror or sometimes by a statue. The building is normally in the rear of the shrine and closed to the general public. In front of its usually stands the haiden, or oratory. The haiden is often connected to the honden by a heiden, or hall of offerings.

Physically, the honden is the heart of the shrine complex, connected to the rest of the shrine but usually raised above it, and protected from public access by a fence called tamagaki. It usually is relatively small and with a gabled roof. Its doors are usually kept closed, except at religious festivals. Shinto priests themselves enter only to perform rituals. The rite of opening those doors is itself an important part of the shrine's life. Inside the honden is kept the goshintai (神体), literally, "the sacred body of the kami". The goshintai is actually not divine, but just a temporary repository of the enshrined kami.

Important as it is, the honden may sometimes be completely absent, as for example when the shrine stands on a sacred mountain to which it is dedicated, or when there are nearby himorogi or other yorishiro that serve as a more direct bond to a kami. Ōmiwa Shrine in Nara, for example, contains no sacred images or objects because it is believed to serve the mountain on which it stands. For the same reason, it has a haiden (拝殿, worship hall)), but no honden.

See also

• The Glossary of Shinto for an explanation of terms concerning Japanese Shinto, Shinto art, and Shinto shrine architecture.

References

• Tamura, Yoshiro (2000). "The Birth of the Japanese nation in". Japanese Buddhism - A Cultural History (First Edition ed.). Tokyo: Kosei Publishing Company. p. 232 pages. ISBN 4-333-01684-3. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
• "Honden". JAANUS. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
• Mori, Mizue (2005-06-02). "Honden". Encyclopedia of Shinto. Kokugakuin University. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
• Smyers, Karen Ann (1999). The Fox and the Jewel: Shared and Private Meanings in Contemporary Japanese Inari Worship. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-2102-5. OCLC 231775156. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)