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94-634: Tenmangū ( 天満宮 ) is a Shinto shrine which enshrines Sugawara no Michizane as Tenjin . There are about 14,000 such shrines in Japan; famous examples include: Dazaifu Tenman-gū and Kitano Tenmangū are often grouped together with another of these shrines and called the "Three Great Tenjin Shrines", but there is no generally accepted criterion for the selection of a third shrine. [REDACTED] Media related to Tenman-gū at Wikimedia Commons Shinto shrine The honden (本殿, meaning: "main hall")

188-534: A community deems to hold religious significance are known as sacred trees . The most famous sacred grove in mainland Greece was the oak grove at Dodona . Outside the walls of Athens , the site of the Platonic Academy was a sacred grove of olive trees, still recalled in the phrase "the groves of Academe". In central Italy, the town of Nemi recalls the Latin nemus Aricinum , or "grove of Ariccia ",

282-652: A kami is believed to reside in them. Shintai are not themselves part of kami , but rather just symbolic repositories which make them accessible to human beings for worship; the kami inhabits them. Shintai are also of necessity yorishiro , that is objects by their very nature capable of attracting kami . The most common shintai are objects like mirrors, swords, jewels (for example comma-shaped stones called magatama ), gohei (wands used during religious rites), and sculptures of kami called shinzō ( 神像 ) , but they can be also natural objects such as rocks, mountains, trees, and waterfalls. Mountains were among

376-649: A kami . There may be a haiden ( 拝殿 , meaning: "hall of worship") and other structures as well. Although only one word ("shrine") is used in English, in Japanese, Shinto shrines may carry any one of many different, non-equivalent names like gongen , -gū , jinja , jingū , mori , myōjin , -sha , taisha , ubusuna or yashiro . Miniature shrines ( hokora ) can occasionally be found on roadsides. Large shrines sometimes have on their precincts miniature shrines, sessha ( 摂社 ) or massha ( 末社 ) . Mikoshi ,

470-423: A taboo as it is believed that as sunrise is the beginning of the day to mankind, sunset is perceived as the beginning of day to those who dwell in the grave area. Burials are almost always postponed until the next day except in certain cases where it is allowed, provided that additional rules are observed, such as, women and children are not allowed at the night time burial ceremony. An ancient ritual of renaming

564-420: A Greek colony, had a sacred grove so close by it that Julius Caesar had it cut down to facilitate his siege . In Pharsalia , the poet Lucan dramatized it as a place where sunlight could not reach through the branches, where no animal or bird lived, where the wind did not blow, but branches moved on their own, where human sacrifice was practiced, in a clear attempt to dramatize the situation and distract from

658-482: A critical role in the protection of watersheds and water sources. Indigenous Bunong people in Mondulkiri province , Cambodia consider forests to be sacred. Deforestation and land concessions in the country has threatened their land tenure and traditions. In India, sacred groves are scattered all over the country, and do enjoy protection. Prior to 2002, these forest regions were not recognized under any of

752-493: A cultural import which provided much of Shinto architecture's vocabulary. The rōmon ( 楼門 , tower gate ) , the haiden , the kairō ( 回廊 , corridor ) , the tōrō , or stone lantern, and the komainu , or lion dogs, are all elements borrowed from Buddhism. Until the Meiji period (1868–1912), shrines as they exist today were rare. With very few exceptions like Ise Grand Shrine and Izumo Taisha , they were just

846-651: A high deity. Jingū ( 神宮 ) is a shrine of particularly high status that has a deep relationship with the Imperial household or enshrines an Emperor, as for example in the case of the Ise Jingū and the Meiji Jingū. The name Jingū alone, can refer only to the Ise Jingū, whose official name is just "Jingū". It is a formulation close to jinja ( 神社 ) with the character Sha ( 社 ) being replaced with gū ( 宮 ) , emphasizing its high rank Miya ( 宮 )

940-482: A national historic site (国の史跡). The Kamigamo Shrine and the Shimogamo Shrine , along with other Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities) , have been designated World Heritage Sites since 1994. The Utaki sacred sites (often with associated burial grounds) on Okinawa are based on Ryukyuan religion , and usually are associated with toun or kami-asagi – regions dedicated to

1034-448: A part of a temple-shrine complex controlled by Buddhist clergy. These complexes were called jingū-ji ( 神宮寺 , literally: "shrine temple") , places of worship composed of a Buddhist temple and of a shrine dedicated to a local kami . The complexes were born when a temple was erected next to a shrine to help its kami with its karmic problems. At the time, kami were thought to be also subjected to karma , and therefore in need of

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1128-711: A place named Mangatoor in Kerala. Sacred groves are being destroyed as a part of urbanization . The family "Nalukettil Puthenpurayil" still protects sacred groves. Dev Bhoomi, or the "Land of Gods," is part of the 133 sacred groves in the foothills of the Himalayas in Uttarakhand. Known for its rivers, lakes, caves, and forests, it is considered the holiest land in the region. Local communities honor deities like Haat Kaali, Kotgyari Devi, and Mahakaali. Unlike typical forests, these sacred groves are alpine meadows, deeply tied to

1222-460: A rock or waterfall housing a local kami ), or of an artificial one, which must therefore be procured or made to the purpose. An example of the first case are the Nachi Falls , worshiped at Hiryū Shrine near Kumano Nachi Taisha and believed to be inhabited by a kami called Hiryū Gongen . The first duty of a shrine is to house and protect its shintai and the kami which inhabits it. If

1316-552: A salvation only Buddhism could provide. Having first appeared during the Nara period (710–794), the jingū-ji remained common for over a millennium until, with few exceptions, they were destroyed in compliance with the new policies of the Meiji administration in 1868. The Shinto shrine went through a massive change when the Meiji administration promulgated a new policy of separation of kami and foreign Buddhas ( shinbutsu bunri ) with

1410-424: A shrine has more than one building, the one containing the shintai is called honden ; because it is meant for the exclusive use of the kami , it is always closed to the public and is not used for prayer or religious ceremonies. The shintai leaves the honden only during festivals ( matsuri ), when it is put in portable shrines ( mikoshi ) and carried around the streets among the faithful. The portable shrine

1504-413: A shrine to another: the divided spirit's new location can be a privately owned object or an individual's house. The kanjō process was of fundamental importance in the creation of all of Japan's shrine networks ( Inari shrines , Hachiman shrines , etc.). The shake (社家) are families and the former social class that dominated Shinto shrines through hereditary positions within a shrine. The social class

1598-612: A significant role in the folk beliefs of the Germanic peoples. Across Benin and Togo (Dahomey Gap, West Africa), sacred forests form islands of biodiversity in the middle of overgrazed, woody, semiarid savannahs and croplands. Due to their tendency to be maintained over long periods of time, the sacred forests contain valuable remnants of ecological communities from the once extensive forests. Soils in these forests store significant amounts soil carbon as both soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil inorganic carbon (SIC). Soil inorganic carbon

1692-493: A small shrine ( chinjusha ) dedicated to its Shinto tutelary kami , and vice versa Buddhist figures (e.g. goddess Kannon ) are revered in Shinto shrines. The defining features of a shrine are the kami it enshrines and the shintai (or go-shintai if the honorific prefix go- is used) that houses it. While the name literally means "body of a kami", shintai are physical objects worshiped at or near Shinto shrines because

1786-637: A small town a quarter of the way around the lake. In antiquity, the area had no town, but the grove was the site of one of the most famous of Roman cults and temples: that of Diana Nemorensis , a study of which served as the seed for Sir James Frazer 's seminal work on the anthropology of religion, The Golden Bough . A sacred grove behind the House of the Vestal Virgins on the edge of the Roman Forum lingered until its last vestiges were burnt in

1880-458: Is also used as a suffix -sha or sometimes -ja ( 社 ) , as in Shinmei-sha or Tenjin-ja , indicates a minor shrine that has received through the kanjō process a kami from a more important one. A mori ( 杜 ) is a place where a kami is present. It can therefore be a shrine and, in fact, the characters 神社, 社 and 杜 can all be read "mori" ("grove"). This reading reflects the fact

1974-623: Is an important carbon sink because it preserved over a longer time frame than the soil organic carbon. There is a high potential for development of the soils for potential carbon sequestration . Sacred groves are also present in Ghana . One of Ghana's most famous sacred groves – the Buoyem Sacred Grove – and numerous other sacred groves are present in the Techiman Municipal District and nearby districts of

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2068-423: Is an operation called kanjō , a propagation process through which a kami is invited to a new location and there re-enshrined. The new shrine is administered completely independent from the one it originated from. However, other transfer mechanisms exist. In Ise Grand Shrine's case, for example, its network of Shinmei shrines (from Shinmei, 神明; another name for Amaterasu) grew due to two concurrent causes. During

2162-431: Is associated with a presiding deity, and the groves are referred to by different names in different parts of India. They were maintained by local communities with hunting and logging strictly prohibited within these patches. While most of these sacred deities are associated with local Hindu gods, sacred groves of Islamic and Buddhist origins are also known. Sacred groves occur in a variety of places – from scrub forests in

2256-501: Is believed to serve the mountain on which it stands—images or objects are therefore unnecessary. For the same reason, it has a worship hall, a haiden ( 拝殿 ) , but no place to house the kami , called shinden ( 神殿 ) . Archeology confirms that, during the Yayoi period, the most common shintai ( 神体 ) (a yorishiro actually housing the enshrined kami ) in the earliest shrines were nearby mountain peaks that supplied stream water to

2350-444: Is dotted with shrines and sculptures. Oloye Susanne Wenger , an Austrian artist, helped revive the grove. The grove was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005. Sacred forests continue to hold an important place in the everyday lives of Indigenous and rural people across South, East, and Southeast Asia. A large-scale comparative analysis of sacred groves in ten countries within these regions indicates that they have long played

2444-751: Is home of the Bono people . There are many groups of trees and groves that remain sacred to local indigenous populations, such as the Kikuyu , the Maasai , and the Mbeere tribe of central Kenya . In 2008, the Kaya forests, a group of 10 forest sites spread over 200 km (124 mi), were made a World Heritage Site by UNESCO . They are a series of forests located along the coast of Kenya, accompanied by fortified villages known as kayas. These kayas were originally built in

2538-459: Is its best extant example. In Shinto it has played a particularly significant role in preserving ancient architectural styles. Izumo Taisha , Sumiyoshi Taisha , and Nishina Shinmei Shrine each represent a different style whose origin is believed to predate Buddhism in Japan. These three styles are known respectively as taisha-zukuri , sumiyoshi-zukuri , and shinmei-zukuri . Shrines show various influences, particularly that of Buddhism,

2632-550: Is noted in the earliest written reports about the Germanic peoples, with the Roman historian Tacitus stating that Germanic cult practices took place exclusively in groves rather than temples. Scholars consider that reverence for and rites performed at individual trees are derived from the mythological role of the world tree, Yggdrasil ; onomastic and some historical evidence also connects individual deities to both groves and individual trees. After Christianization, trees continue to play

2726-613: Is part of the Kashima Wildlife Preservation Area . The woods include over 800 kinds of trees and varied animal and plant life. Tadasu no Mori ( 糺の森 ) is a general term for a wooded area associated with the Kamo Shrine , which is a Shinto sanctuary near the banks of the Kamo River in northeast Kyoto. The ambit of today's forest encompasses approximately 12.4 hectares, which are preserved as

2820-616: Is that in the Nevet forest near Locronan in Brittany , France. Gournay-sur-Aronde (Gournay-on-Aronde), a village in the Oise department of France, also houses the remains of a nemeton . Nemetons were often fenced off by enclosures, as indicated by the German term Viereckschanze – meaning a quadrangular space surrounded by a ditch enclosed by wooden palisades. Many of these groves, like

2914-558: Is the Tōshō-gū shrines erected to enshrine Tokugawa Ieyasu , or the many shrines dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane , like Kitano Tenman-gū . Often the shrines which were most significant historically do not lie in a former center of power like Kyoto , Nara , or Kamakura . For example, Ise Grand Shrine , the Imperial household 's family shrine, is in Mie prefecture . Izumo-taisha , one of

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3008-481: Is the kunyomi of -gū ( 宮 ) and indicates a shrine enshrining a special kami or a member of the Imperial household like the Empress, but there are many examples in which it is used simply as a tradition. During the period of state regulation, many -miya names were changed to jinja . A taisha ( 大社 ) (the characters are also read ōyashiro ) is literally a "great shrine" that was classified as such under

3102-465: Is used to physically protect the shintai and to hide it from sight. Often the opening of a new shrine will require the ritual division of a kami and the transferring of one of the two resulting spirits to the new location, where it will animate the shintai . This process is called kanjō , and the divided spirits bunrei ( 分霊 , literally: "divided spirit") , go-bunrei ( 御分霊 ) , or wakemitama ( 分霊 ) . This process of propagation, described by

3196-411: Is where a shrine's patron kami is/are enshrined. The honden may be absent in cases where a shrine stands on or near a sacred mountain, tree, or other object which can be worshipped directly or in cases where a shrine possesses either an altar-like structure, called a himorogi , or an object believed to be capable of attracting spirits, called a yorishiro , which can also serve as direct bonds to

3290-812: The Anweam Sacred Grove in the Esukawkaw Forest Reserve Other well-known sacred groves in present-day Ghana include the Malshegu Sacred Grove in Northern Ghana – one of the last remaining closed-canopy forests in the savannah regions, and the Jachie sacred grove. The Tanoboase Sacred Grove and Shrine is located near the village of Tanoboase in the Techiman, Brong Ahafo region of Ghana. The site

3384-667: The Brong Ahafo Region . They provide a refuge for wildlife which has been exterminated in nearby areas, and one grove most notably houses 20,000 fruit bats in caves. The capital of the historical Ghana Empire , contained a sacred grove called al-gâba (Ar. "the forest") for performing religious rites of the Soninke people . Other sacred groves in Ghana include sacred groves along the coastal savannahs of Ghana. Many sacred groves in Ghana are now under federal protection – like

3478-614: The Engi-shiki (延喜式, literally: "Procedures of the Engi Era") was promulgated in fifty volumes. This, the first formal codification of Shinto rites and Norito (liturgies and prayers) to survive, became the basis for all subsequent Shinto liturgical practice and efforts. In addition to the first ten volumes of this fifty volume work, which concerned worship and the Department of Worship , sections in subsequent volumes addressing

3572-584: The Great Fire of Rome in 64 CE. In the town of Spoleto , Umbria , two stones from the late third century BCE, inscribed in archaic Latin, that established punishments for the profanation of the woods dedicated to Jupiter ( Lex Luci Spoletina ) have survived; they are preserved in the National Archeological Museum of Spoleto. The Bosco Sacro (literally sacred grove ) in the garden of Bomarzo , Italy, lends its associations to

3666-766: The Japanese Middle Ages , shrines started being called with the name gongen ( 権現 ) , a term of Buddhist origin. For example, in Eastern Japan there are still many Hakusan shrines where the shrine itself is called gongen . Because it represents the application of Buddhist terminology to Shinto kami , its use was legally abolished by the Meiji government with the Shinto and Buddhism Separation Order ( 神仏判然令 , Shin-butsu Hanzenrei ) , and shrines began to be called jinja . Ancestors are kami to be worshipped. Yayoi period village councils sought

3760-630: The Kami and Buddhas Separation Order ( 神仏判然令 , Shinbutsu Hanzenrei ) . This event triggered the haibutsu kishaku , a violent anti-Buddhist movement which in the final years of the Tokugawa shogunate and during the Meiji Restoration caused the forcible closure of thousands of Buddhist temples, the confiscation of their land, the forced return to lay life of monks, and the destruction of books, statues and other Buddhist property. Until

3854-497: The Luo people of western Kenya , and is said to be the first site they established after migrating from South Sudan . The hill is named after Ramogi, a notable Luo leader. The hill and forests are considered holy and sacred, and the Luo people use the hill for cultural and religious practices, including as a source of herbal medicine and a place of meditation . According to the Luo people,

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3948-461: The Man'yōshū . Sha ( 社 ) itself was not an initially secular term. In Chinese it alone historically could refer to Tudigong , or soil gods, a kind of tutelary deity seen as subordinate to City Gods . Such deities are also often called ( 社神 ; shèshén ), or the same characters in the reverse order. Its Kunyomi reading Yashiro ( 社 ) is a generic term for shinto shrine like jinja . It

4042-549: The Ministry of Ceremonies (治部省) and the Ministry of the Imperial Household (宮内省) regulated Shinto worship and contained liturgical rites and regulation. In 1970, Felicia Gressitt Brock published a two-volume annotated English language translation of the first ten volumes with an introduction entitled Engi-shiki; procedures of the Engi Era . The arrival of Buddhism in Japan in around the sixth century introduced

4136-998: The Thar Desert of Rajasthan maintained by the Bishnois , to rain forests in the Kerala Western Ghats . Himachal Pradesh in the North and Kerala in the South are specifically known for their large numbers of sacred groves. The Kodavas of Karnataka maintained over 1000 sacred groves in Kodagu alone. The district of Uttara Kannada in Karnataka also harbours a large number of sacred groves. Around 14,000 sacred groves have been reported from all over India, which act as reservoirs of rare fauna, and more often rare flora, amid rural and even urban settings. Experts believe that

4230-433: The yabunikkei or Cinnamomum japonicum (a form of wild cinnamon). Direct access to the grove is forbidden. Much of the ways of the ancient inhabitants of Malaysia have largely been forgotten, mostly due to the taboos among the local populace on putting certain esoteric knowledge down in ink, thus only passed down through examples and word of mouth from mother to daughter and father to son. However, much can be observed by

4324-533: The 'Daijōkan' banned the application of Buddhist terminology such as gongen to Japanese kami and the veneration of Buddhist statues in shrines. The third stage consisted of the prohibition against applying the Buddhist term Daibosatsu (Great Bodhisattva ) to the syncretic kami Hachiman at the Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū and Usa Hachiman-gū shrines. In the fourth and final stage, all

4418-564: The 14th-century documents of the Teutonic Order ( sacra sylva, que Scayte vulgariter nominatur..., silva, quae dicitur Heyligewalt... ). A religious centre of intertribal significance was Romuva ( Romow ) in Nadruvia , Prussia , as described by Peter of Dusburg in 1326. For Curonians sacred groves were closely associated with the cult of the dead . By the early 15th century, with the disappearance of cremation traditions among

4512-469: The 16th century but have uninhabited since the 1940s. They are now regarded as sacred sites. Mount Kenya is a mountain of volcanic origin that stands 5,199 metres (17,057 feet) tall. It has a unique forest and plant ecosystem that holds significant biological and cultural importance, and is home to over 882 plant species. In 1949, it was designated a national park , and in 1978, the UNESCO Man and

4606-620: The Biosphere Programme named it a Biosphere Reserve. It is considered a sacred site by the Kikuyu, who believed that the top of the mountain was the ‘house’ of God. Ramogi hill is located in the Siaya County of western Kenya. The hill and forest cover a distance of 283 hectares (699 acres) and is home to rich flora including trees, shrubs , flowers, over 100 plant species in total. It is an important historical site for

4700-567: The Curonians the sacred groves of Courland had lost their crematory function but remained as an inviolable place reserved for the dead. The role of the sacred forests in the 16th-century traditions of Curonian Kings is described in a travel description by Königsberg apothecary Reinhold Lubenau: I first reached Mummel and then passed through Courland, reaching the Curonian king, where we had to watch his pagan superstitions. Since Christmas

4794-690: The Greco-Roman temenos , various Germanic words for sacred groves , and the Celtic nemeton , which was largely but not exclusively associated with Druidic practice. During the Northern Crusades of the Middle Ages, conquering Christians commonly built churches on the sites of sacred groves. The Lakota and various other North American tribes regard particular forests or other natural landmarks as sacred places. Singular trees which

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4888-475: The Japanese words for "mountain" and "forest", which can also mean "shrine". Many shrines have on their grounds one of the original great yorishiro : a big tree, surrounded by a sacred rope called shimenawa ( 標縄・注連縄・七五三縄 ) . The first buildings at places dedicated to worship were hut-like structures built to house some yorishiro . A trace of this origin can be found in the term hokura ( 神庫 ) , "deity storehouse", which evolved into hokora (written with

4982-485: The Lord Gautama Buddha and founded Buddhism after achieving Enlightenment . The Mayadevi Temple is located at Lumbini. In the animistic native Filipino religion called Bathala , the worshiping anito spirits, balete trees ( Ficus spp.), also known as nonok or nunuk , are regarded as abodes of spirits or gateways to the spirit world. Cutting them down was taboo , a superstition that

5076-540: The advice of ancestors and other kami , and developed instruments, yorishiro ( 依り代 ) , to evoke them. Yoshishiro means "approach substitute" and were conceived to attract the kami to allow them physical space, thus making kami accessible to human beings. Village council sessions were held in quiet spots in the mountains or in forests near great trees or other natural objects that served as yorishiro . These sacred places and their yorishiro gradually evolved into today's shrines, whose origins can be still seen in

5170-430: The concept of a permanent shrine. A great number of Buddhist temples were built next to existing shrines in mixed complexes called jingū-ji ( 神宮寺 , literally: "shrine temple") to help priesthood deal with local kami , making those shrines permanent. Some time in their evolution, the word miya ( 宮 ) , meaning "palace", came into use indicating that shrines had by then become the imposing structures of today. Once

5264-438: The deceased as she or he is laid into the earth is also practiced. The Orang Asli and Malay (see Malaysian names ) naming system has a living name and a spirit name, which is given during the ritual of burial. This name is known as nama arwah (spirit name). The living name is usually the given name plus the word 'anak' which means 'son/daughter of' or 'bin' and 'binti' which mean 'son of' or 'daughter of' respectively; followed by

5358-466: The defrocked bettō and shasō were told to become "shrine priests" ( kannushi ) and return to their shrines. Monks of the Nichiren sect were told not to refer to some deities as kami . After a short period in which it enjoyed popular favor, the process of separation of Buddhas and kami however stalled and is still only partially completed. To this day, almost all Buddhist temples in Japan have

5452-617: The end of Edo period , local kami beliefs and Buddhism were intimately connected in what was called shinbutsu shūgō (神仏習合), up to the point where even the same buildings were used as both Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. After the law, the two would be forcibly separated. This was done in several stages. At first an order issued by the Jingijimuka in April 1868 ordered the defrocking of shasō and bettō (shrine monks performing Buddhist rites at Shinto shrines). A few days later,

5546-656: The ethnic identity of local groups. Their survival is believed to depend on oral traditions, with no written laws. Customary taboos forbid harming the groves, including plucking flowers, uprooting plants, or disturbing animals and religious objects. Despite the abundance of sacred groves in India, they are gradually disappearing due to cultural shifts and growing pressure to exploit the natural resources within these groves. Sacred groves in Japan are typically associated with Shinto shrines and are located all over Japan. They have existed since ancient times and shrines are often built in

5640-528: The existing laws. But in 2002 an amendment was brought in Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 to include Sacred Groves under the act. In 2016, a framework was published by the intergovernmental organization ICIMOD to help assess the present day significance of sacred natural sites , including sacred groves in all Himalayan countries to enable better policy uptake of these sites. Some NGOs work with local villagers to protect such groves. Each grove

5734-495: The first permanent shrines were built, Shinto revealed a strong tendency to resist architectural change, a tendency which manifested itself in the so-called shikinen sengū-sai ( 式年遷宮祭 ) , the tradition of rebuilding shrines faithfully at regular intervals adhering strictly to their original design. This custom is the reason ancient styles have been replicated throughout the centuries to the present day, remaining more or less intact. Ise Grand Shrine , still rebuilt every 20 years,

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5828-455: The first shrines were huts built to house some yorishiro . -gū ( 宮 ) indicates a shrine enshrining an imperial prince, but there are many examples in which it is used simply as a tradition. The word gū ( 宮 ) often found at the end of names of shrines such as Hachimangu , Tenmangū , or Jingu ( 神宮 ) comes from the Chinese ( 宮 ; gong ) meaning palace or a temple to

5922-402: The first shrines were simply sacred groves or forests where kami were present. Hokora / hokura ( 神庫 ) is an extremely small shrine of the kind one finds for example along country roads. The term Hokora ( 祠 ) , believed to have been one of the first Japanese words for Shinto shrine, evolved from hokura ( 神庫 ) , literally meaning "kami repository", a fact that seems to indicate that

6016-430: The first, and are still among the most important, shintai , and are worshiped at several famous shrines. A mountain believed to house a kami , as for example Mount Fuji or Mount Miwa , is called a shintai-zan ( 神体山 ) . In the case of a man-made shintai , a kami must be invited to reside in it. The founding of a new shrine requires the presence of either a pre-existing, naturally occurring shintai (for example

6110-540: The form of fruits and seeds) to squirrels , foxes , insects and birds. Commonly, a cat, or in most instances, many cats are kept to patrol the gardens and guard from harmful spirits as well as against rats which were believed to carry unclean spirits and diseases. However, one of the most striking examples of the tree reverence among them can be seen in the graveyards which are considered as holy ground , on which no stone structure can be built upon. The whole area are covered by large and tall trees, so much foliage that

6204-475: The gates of the house, one has to bow, as if implying or imitating respect upon entry to a sacred grove which were practiced by their ancestors . Such practices are even performed by those who have migrated into the cities who prefer to live in houses on the ground, rather than in high rise apartments. A garden of fruit trees surrounded by larger trees are planted around the houses to provide shade and an illusion of being at 'home' as well as to provide sustenance (in

6298-527: The gods where people are forbidden to go. Sacred groves are often present in such places, as also in Gusukus – fortified areas which contain sacred sites within them. The Seifa-utaki was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site designated in 2003. It consists of a triangular cavern formed by gigantic rocks, and contains a sacred grove with rare, indigenous trees like the Kubanoki (a kind of palm) and

6392-415: The grounds onto the surface. There is also a ritual of planting small tree sapling on fresh graves by family members who will then water it and tend to it periodically. Petals from fresh red and pink roses are also brought upon visitation to be scattered on the graves and a ritual of pouring rose water upon the soils are also performed. The Malays regard visiting the graves from between sunset to sunrise as

6486-453: The hereditary succession continues to present day. The Unicode character representing a Shinto shrine (for example, on maps ) is U+26E9 ⛩ SHINTO SHRINE . Jinja ( 神社 ) is the most general name for shrine. Any place that owns a honden ( 本殿 ) is a jinja . These two characters used to be read either "kamu-tsu-yashiro" or "mori" in kunyomi , both meaning "kami grove". Both readings can be found for example in

6580-418: The larger cities, these houses are abandoned and allowed to return to nature. As most traditional Orang Asli and Malay houses are made of only wood, bamboo , rattan and woven palm leaves (being built without using a single nail), the remains of those houses crumble easily into its surrounding. Besides that, a practice of creating arches of vine and creeping flowering plants so that each time one were to enter

6674-403: The late Heian period the cult of Amaterasu , worshiped initially only at Ise Grand Shrine, started to spread to the shrine's possessions through the usual kanjō mechanism. Sacred grove Sacred groves, sacred woods, or sacred forests are groves of trees that have special religious importance within a particular culture . Sacred groves feature in various cultures throughout

6768-583: The medicinal plants that grow in the forests of Ramogi hill are considered to have strong healing powers. The concept of sacred groves is present in Nigerian mythology as well. The Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove , containing dense forests, is located just outside the city of Osogbo , and is regarded as one of the last virgin high forests in Nigeria. It is dedicated to the fertility goddess in Yoruba mythology , and

6862-547: The men and women, as well as the children, danced around the table, something that continued for the whole night. When they went to bed one after another, they invited us to eat and take with us what we would, since they would not eat what was left over, but would give it to the dogs. Neither did they want to take any payment from us for what we had eaten. The Celts used sacred groves, called nemeton in Gaulish , for performing rituals, based on Celtic mythology . The deity involved

6956-411: The midst of preexisting groves. The Cryptomeria tree is venerated in Shinto practice, and considered sacred. Among the sacred groves associated with such jinja s or Shinto shrines is the 20-hectare wooded area associated with Atsuta Shrine ( 熱田神宮 , Atsuta-jingū ) at Atsuta-ku, Nagoya . The 1500-hectare forest associated with Kashima Shrine was declared a "protected area" in 1953. Today it

7050-570: The name of the father. When a person dies, the father's name is replaced with his or her mother's name and this is made known during the reading of burial sentences. Granted World Heritage status by UNESCO in 1997, Lumbini Grove is a Buddhist pilgrimage site in the Rupandehi District of Nepal . It is the place where, according to Buddhist tradition, Queen Mayadevi gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama in 623 BCE . Gautama, who achieved nirvana some time around 543 BCE, became

7144-573: The number of shrines at 79,467, mostly affiliated with the Association of Shinto Shrines ( 神社本庁 ) . Some shrines, such as the Yasukuni Shrine , are totally independent of any outside authority. The number of Shinto shrines in Japan is estimated to be around 100,000. Since ancient times, the Shake (社家) families dominated Shinto shrines through hereditary positions, and at some shrines

7238-537: The old system of shrine ranking, the shakaku ( 社格 ) , abolished in 1946. Many shrines carrying that shōgō adopted it only after the war. Chinjusha ( 鎮守社•鎮社 , or tutelary shrine ) comes from Chinju written as 鎮守 or sometimes just 鎮. meaning Guardian, and Sha ( 社 ) Setsumatsusha ( 摂末社 ) is a combination of two words Sessha ( 摂社 , auxiliary shrine ) and massha ( 末社 , undershrine ) . They are also called eda-miya ( 枝宮 , branch shrines ) which contains Miya ( 宮 ) During

7332-488: The oldest and most revered shrines in Japan, is in Shimane Prefecture . This is because their location is that of a traditionally important kami , and not that of temporal institutions. Some shrines exist only in one locality, while others are at the head of a network of branch shrines ( 分社 , bunsha ) . The spreading of a kami can be evoked by one or more of several different mechanisms. The typical one

7426-462: The palanquins which are carried on poles during festivals ( matsuri ), also enshrine kami and are therefore considered shrines. In 927 CE , the Engi-shiki ( 延喜式 , literally: "Procedures of the Engi Era") was promulgated. This work listed all of the 2,861 Shinto shrines existing at the time, and the 3,131 official-recognized and enshrined kami . In 1972, the Agency for Cultural Affairs placed

7520-460: The plains where people lived. Besides Ōmiwa Shrine, another important example is Mount Nantai , a phallus -shaped mountain in Nikko which constitutes Futarasan Shrine 's shintai . The name Nantai ( 男体 ) means "man's body". The mountain provides water to the rice paddies below and has the shape of the phallic stone rods found in pre-agricultural Jōmon sites. The first known Shinto shrine

7614-506: The priests, in spite of this name, not as a division but as akin to the lighting of a candle from another already lit, leaves the original kami intact in its original place and therefore does not alter any of its properties. The resulting spirit has all the qualities of the original and is therefore "alive" and permanent. The process is used often—for example during Shinto festivals ( matsuri ) to animate temporary shrines called mikoshi . The transfer does not necessarily take place from

7708-600: The sacred grove at Didyma , Turkey are thought to be nemeton s, sacred groves protected by druids based on Celtic mythology. In fact, according to Strabo , the central shrine at Galatia was called Drunemeton . Some of these were also sacred groves in Greek times (as in the case of Didyma), but were based on a different or slightly changed mythology. Trees hold a particular role in Germanic paganism and Germanic mythology, both as individuals (sacred trees) and in groups (sacred groves). The central role of trees in Germanic religion

7802-544: The sacrilege entailed in its destruction. There are two mentions on this tradition in the Bible : And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of God. and where the women wove hangings for the grove. Excavations at Labraunda have revealed a large shrine assumed to be that of Zeus Stratios mentioned by Herodotus as a large sacred grove of plane trees sacred to Carians . In Syria, there

7896-480: The same characters 神庫) and is considered to be one of the first words for shrine. True shrines arose with the beginning of agriculture, when the need arose to attract kami to ensure good harvests. These were, however, just temporary structures built for a particular purpose, a tradition of which traces can be found in some rituals. Hints of the first shrines can still be found. Ōmiwa Shrine in Nara , for example, contains no sacred images or objects because it

7990-492: The scorching tropical sun is reduced to a dim shadow as temperatures drop to a comfortable cool. Malay folklore relates that the trees whisper prayers to the creator in absolution of the past transgression of the ground's once human inhabitants. The trees are also allowed to take root into the graves where the grave keepers ( penjaga kubur in Malay) slowly remove gravestones (which used to be made from wood) as they are ejected from

8084-652: The total number of sacred groves could be as high as 100,000. Threats to the groves include urbanization, and over-exploitation of resources. While many of the groves are looked upon as abode of Hindu gods, in the recent past a number of them have been partially cleared for construction of shrines and temples. Ritualistic dances and dramatizations based on the local deities that protect the groves are called Theyyam in Kerala and Nagmandalam , among other names, in Karnataka . There are sacred groves in Ernakulam region in

8178-535: The uncanny atmosphere. Lucus Pisaurensis , the Sacred Grove of Pesaro , Italy was discovered by Patrician Annibale degli Abati Olivieri in 1737 on property he owned along the 'Forbidden Road' ( Collina di Calibano ), just outside Pesaro. This sacred grove is the site of the Votive Stones of Pesaro and was dedicated to Salus , the ancient Roman demi-goddess of well-being. The city of Massilia ,

8272-470: The ways and habits of the natives of Malaysia which include 18 tribes of Orang Asli ( Malay for Natural People) and the Malays , who are often regarded as the 19th tribe. There is a practice of tree planting around houses to the extent that the walls and wooden structures are allowed to give way to the roots of creeping plants, purposely sown at the bases of these structures. With increased migration towards

8366-719: The world. These are forest areas that are, for the most part, untouched by local people and often protected by local communities. They often play a critical role in protecting water sources and biodiversity, including essential resources for the groups that protect them. They were important features of the mythological landscape and cult practice of Celtic , Estonian , Baltic , Germanic , ancient Greek , Near Eastern , Roman , and Slavic polytheism . They are also found in locations such as India (Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu) , Japan ( sacred shrine forests ), China ( Fengshui woodland ), West Africa and Ethiopia ( church forests ). Examples of sacred groves include

8460-751: Was a grove sacred to Adonis at Afqa . A sacred grove is known as alka(s) in Lithuanian and elks in Latvian , however, the terms are also sometimes used to refer to natural holy places in general. The first mention of Baltic sacred groves dates back to 1075 when Adam of Bremen noted Baltic Prussian sacred groves and springs whose sacredness was believed to be polluted by the entry of Christians ( solus prohibetur accessus lucorum et fontium, quos autumant pollui christianorum accessu ). A few sacred groves in Sambian Peninsula are mentioned in

8554-535: Was abolished in 1871, but many shake families still continue hereditary succession until present day and some were appointed hereditary nobility ( Kazoku ) after the Meiji Restoration . Some of the most well-known shake families include: Those worshiped at a shrine are generally Shinto kami , but sometimes they can be Buddhist or Taoist deities, as well as others not generally considered to belong to Shinto. Some shrines were established to worship living people or figures from myths and legends . An example

8648-536: Was approaching, they went hunting in their holy forest, where they do no hunting and do not cut a single rod throughout the rest of the year. All that they now hunted there: roe deer, red deer and hares, they skinned, cooked and placed on a long table. They fastened a large number of wax candles to the table, for the souls of their parents, children and relatives. After this, standing and walking to and fro, they ate and drank, and forced us to do likewise. Later, they brought an empty beer keg and beat on it with two sticks, and

8742-519: Was built in roughly 478. In 905 CE, Emperor Daigo ordered a compilation of Shinto rites and rules. Previous attempts at codification are known to have taken place, but, neither the Konin nor the Jogan Gishiki survive. Initially under the direction of Fujiwara no Tokihira , the project stalled at his death in April 909. Fujiwara no Tadahira , his brother, took charge and in 912 and in 927

8836-643: Was usually Nemetona – a Celtic goddess. Druids oversaw such rituals. Existence of such groves have been found in Germany, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Hungary in Central Europe, in many sites of ancient Gaul in France, as well as England and Northern Ireland . Sacred groves had been plentiful up until the 1st century BC, when the Romans attacked and conquered Gaul. One of the best known nemeton sites

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