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InShinto shrine architecture, thehonden (本殿,main hall), also calledshinden (神殿), or sometimesshōden (昇殿) as inIse Shrine's case, is the most sacred building at a Shinto shrine, intended purely for the use of the enshrinedkami, usually symbolized by a mirror or sometimes by a statue.[1][2] The building is normally in the rear of the shrine and closed to the general public.[3] In front of it usually stands thehaiden, ororatory. Thehaiden is often connected to thehonden by aheiden, or hall of offerings.[4]
Physically, thehonden 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 calledtamagaki. It usually is relatively small and with a gabled roof. Its doors are usually kept closed, except atreligious festivals.Shinto priests themselves enter only to perform rituals.[1] The rite of opening those doors is itself an important part of the shrine's life.[3] Inside thehonden is kept thego-shintai (御神体), literally, "the sacred body of the kami". Thego-shintai is actually not divine, but just a temporary repository of the enshrinedkami.[5]
Important as it is, thehonden 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 nearbyhimorogi (enclosure) or otheryorishiro (substitute object) that serve as a more direct bond to akami.[3]Ōmiwa Shrine inNara, for example, contains no sacred images or objects because it is believed to serve the mountain on which it stands (Mount Miwa).[6][7] For the same reason, it has ahaiden (拝殿,worship hall), but nohonden. In this sense, it is a model of what the first Shinto shrines were like.[7]
Another important shrine without ahonden isSuwa Taisha, head of the Suwa shrine network.
Thehonden's structure determines the shrine's architectural style. Many exist, but three (taisha-zukuri,shinmei-zukuri andsumiyoshi-zukuri) are of particular importance because they are the only ones believed to predate the arrival ofBuddhism, and have therefore a special architectural and historical significance. They are exemplified respectively by thehonden atIzumo Taisha,Nishina Shinmei Shrine andSumiyoshi Taisha. German architectBruno Taut compared the importance ofIse Shrine'shonden to that of Greece'sParthenon. For details, see the articleShinto architecture.
