Hosodono Hall - Hashidono Hall
The conical sand mound the dedicated deity of the shrine is said to have descend to and the long history of the Chakutoden Hall
  After going through the Nino Torii Gate, you will find yourself in front of the Hosodono Hall, and right in front of the hall there is a conical sand mound. From ages ago, when the Emperor of Japan, the queen (Itsuki-no-miko), or a retired emperor visited the shrine, they first stopped at the Chakutoden Hall (the hall honored guests used as a dressing room), and this hall is specified as an important cultural property. There are sand mounds made of clean white sand in a perfect conical shape right in front of the Hosodono Hall that symbolize Mt. Koyama, the place it is said the god Kamowakeikazuchi-no-kami descended, and it is believed they play the role of envoking the spirit of the god. Accordingly, a pine needle from an evergreen tree is placed at the top of the sand cone during religious ceremonies as a symbol of the god being present in spirit. It is said that this custom is the source of the modern custom seen in Japan where people will throw salt to the kimon, the 'demon's gate,' or the quarter lying to the northeast of one's position, superstitiously believed to be unlucky, in order to exorcize demons. There are several bridges on the Kamigamo Shrine grounds that are specified as an important cultural properties. Constructed over the Nara-no-ogawa River just south of its origin, the Hashidono Hall is one of these bridges, and it is said that it was built here because there is always water flowing past and the place is purified. Rather than a bridge, it is more like a building straddling the river. The structure is only about 1.818 meters wide, but it is about 9.09 meters long, and it has a large roof with tiles made of the bark of Japanese cypress hinoki trees.
   
Hosodono Hall
Hosodono Hall
Hashidono Hall
Hashidono Hall
Conical sand mounds   A pine needle on a conical sand mound   Hosodono Hall seen through the Nino Torii Gate
Conical sand mounds   A pine needle on a
conical sand mound
  Hosodono Hall seen through
the Nino Torii Gate
 
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