Niutsuhime-jinja (shrine) ’OΆ“s”δ”„_ŽΠ

Niutsuhime-jinja is located at Katsuragi Town in Wakayama Prefecture.
Niutsuhime-jinja is dedicated to the deity of the land of the northwestern area
of Kii Mountain Range, including Koyasan.
The shrine first appered in historical documents in 855, and its religious origin is said to date back to much earliar times.
Its chief deities are Niutsuhime-okami,Takanomikono-okami.
Those two deities are also called Niumyojin and Koyamyojin.
According to legend,when Kukai was looking for the land for the construction of the Kongobuji, they gave the land to him and guided him,respectively.
The Koyamyojin appered as a hunter with two dogs and guided Kukai to the site of Kongobuji.
The Niumyojin and Koyamyojin are worshiped in Kongobuji as the gurdian deities.
In 1208,the shrine started to worship two other deities from Kehi of Tsuruga no kuni (Fukui Prefecture) and Itsukushima of Aki no kuni (Hiroshima Prefecture).
Those dieties are called Ogetsuhimeno-okami,Ichikishimahimeno-okami.
Since then,the shrine came to be revered for the quadruple deities of koya, collectively Shishomyujin.
The Niutsuhime-jinja Honden (shrine's main building) consists of four shrine buildings dedicated to Shishomyojin.
The second hall and the fourth hall were reconstructed in 1469 and the first hall and the third hall were reconstructed in 1715 and in 1901, respectively.
However,teh small shrine called Kuden, installed in each of the four shrine buildings to enshrine the object of the worship, is the original construction dating back to 1306.
As a Kasuga-style shrine building, the first building is the largest in Japan.
The Niutsuhime-jinja Romon (shrine's gate) is loceted at the front of the Honden.
The existing building is a 1499 reconstruction.
Judging from a late 13th century picture in which the gate is drawn as an eight-pillar structure, the gate underwent a structural development into the present two-storied Romon structure.
The Honden and the Romon buildings are desiganted as Imortant Cultural Properties.
The Niutsuhime-jinja was designated as World Heritage in 2004.

From Kaseda station of the JR Wakayama line, it takes about 30 minites by the Katsuragi Community Bus.(Y.N)



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