Great Shinto Shrine, Japan
Great Shinto Shrine, Ise, honshu, Japan
Endowed with the mystical power of nature, the sacred shrine if Ise Jingo (the Great Shinto Shrine) is built in the forest of giant cryptomeria trees next to the river Isuzu and the foot of the mountains Kamiji & Shimaji. The area is worshiped by the Japanese because it believed to be embued with with the natural energies of the forest, water and mountains.
The Great Shinto Shrine is built using wood and is rebuilt almost every 20 years. The empty site (known as the kodenchi) is covered in white pebbles and only one wooden building with a 2 meter high wooden post hidden in its center. This post is surrounded by stones as it represents the original natural world. It is known as the column of the heart or sacred central post.
The Great Shinto Shrine consists of two main buildings and each generation of the shrine is rebuilt over this post. The inner shrine or ‘imperial shrine’ is dedicated to the Sun Goddess Amaterasi Omikami and 4 miles away the outer shrine dedicated to the Goddess of of Cereals Toyouke Omikami. Each rebuilding of the shrine takes about 8 years and each stage of construction being blessed by religious ceremony.
