Database: Kumano Hongu Taisha

The Kumano Hongū Taisha, literally the Grand Shrine of Kumano, is the first of the three Kumano shrines (Kumano Sanzan) and was originally located on a sandbar in the Kumano River, more than 25 km up from the sea. For this reason, it was originally believed that the shrine was dedicated to the deity of water, while others believed that it was associated with the sun divinity, given that Yatagarasu (three-legged crow) was considered to be the messenger of the sun divinity. In the 11th century, the divinity of the Kumano Hongū was identified as the Buddha Amitābha (Amida Nyorai), which attracted the faith of the imperial family and the nobles of the imperial court, who sought to be reborn in the Pure Land after their death. The main pilgrimage route that became popular since the late 11th century runs south from Kyoto through Watanabenotsu (the actual Osaka), then into the Kii Mountain from Tanabe, reaching first the Kumano Hongū, then Shingū, and Nachi. There were several buildings at the Kumano Hongū Shrine, but most of them were destroyed in the big flood of 1889. The remaining four were actually relocated to a site far away from the river. In the meantime, two pavilions were rebuilt on the original sandbank site, called Oyunohara, to worship the deities of the lost pavilions, before the largest entrance gate (torii) of the shrine in Japan was erected in 2000.