Miwa (mountain)
| Miwa | ||
|---|---|---|
 The Miwa |
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| height | 467 m | |
| location | near Sakurai , Japan | |
| Coordinates | 34 ° 32 ′ 6 ″ N , 135 ° 52 ′ 0 ″ E | |
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| Type | wooded hill | |
| particularities | sacred mountain | |
The 467 m high Miwa ( Japanese 三輪 山 , Miwa-yama , rarely: Miwa no yama ), also called Mimoro ( 三 諸山 , -yama ), is considered the holiest mountain in Japan in Shintoism .
topography
The Miwa is located in the northeast of the city of Sakurai in the Nara prefecture in the south of the Japanese island of Honshu . It is densely forested and, at 467 m, rises only slightly above the densely populated Nara Basin ( Nara-bonchi ) in its west, which is about 70 m above sea level . The forested Kasagi Mountains ( Kasagi-sanchi ) extend to the east .
Spiritual meaning
In contrast to other sacred mountains in Japan, which are worshiped as the seat of a deity or because of some other connection with religious topics, the Miwa-no-yama is considered sacred per se . Therefore, the Ōmiwa shrine ( 大 神 神社 , Ōmiwa-jinja ), a Shintō shrine from the Edo period for the worship of the Miwa at the western foot of the hill, does not have, as usual, a holy of holies ( hon 殿 , honden , literally “main building”): That The holiest of holies here is the mountain itself.
History of Miwa Worship
The oldest sacred buildings on the Miwa are three rings of boulders ( iwa-kura , "rock dwellings") that enclose the mountain. Their age and significance are unknown. The Miwa is mentioned as early as 712 in Kojiki , the oldest surviving chronicle in Japan, in connection with the mountain deity Ōmononushi . It is believed that the name of the mountain derives from Ō-miwa ( 大 神 , English "great deity") with reference to Ōmononushi. Another interpretation refers to a folk tale according to which a white snake lives on the Miwa, which once was a lover of a princess in the form of a young man, but always disappeared in the morning. To find out his identity, the girl stuck a needle with a thread on his clothes and followed him. When she saw the snake, she took her own life and is said to have been buried at the foot of the Miwa (where Kofun hill tombs from the 5th century are actually located) ever since . The name of the mountain is now understood as the three ( mi ) turns ( wa ) of thread that were left at the end of the persecution. Boiled eggs are still offered to the mythical snake at the shrine; the sight of it is said to promise lifelong happiness.
Another legend about the Miwa is related to the god Ōmononushi, according to which Ōmononushi asked the Tennō to build a sanctuary here . The priest of this shrine was Ōtataneko ( 大田 田根子 ), son of Ōmononushi with a human mother and a sake brewer by profession . To this day, the Miwa is an important pilgrimage site for sake brewers. The unfinished sake that is used as an offering is known as miwa .
A poem by Nukata no Ōkimi from the collection of poems Man'yōshū (8th century) is also dedicated to the mountain:
「三輪 山 乎 然 毛 隠 賀 雲 谷 裳 情 有 南 畝 可 苦 佐布 倍 思 哉」
"Miwa-yama wo / shikamo kakusu ka / kumodani mo / kokoro aranamo / kakusahu beshi ya"
"The Miwa Mountain itself / do you want to hide? / Do not even you clouds have a heart / how can you then bring it over yourselves / to cover it up?"
Entering the mountain is regulated by religious regulations that have changed several times over the course of history. Until the Edo period (1603–1868) it was only permitted if there were specific reasons, and during the Edo period it was completely prohibited. Since the end of the Meiji period in 1912, ascents have been permitted, but subject to conditions such as completing purification rites and wearing a white sash ( tasuki ). The stay on the mountain, which is often used for meditation , is still limited to three hours, the path may not be left and a certain sacred area may not be entered at all.
The Miwa plays an important role in Mishima Yukio's novel Runaway Horses ( 奔馬 , Homba ).
literature
- Karl Gratzl: The Mountain Myth. Lexicon of the important mountains from mythology, cultural history and religion . Hollinek, Purkersdorf 2000, ISBN 3-85119-280-X .
- Josef Kreiner: Sacred Mountains of Japan - Miwa and Fuji . In: Karl Gratzl (ed.): The holiest mountains in the world . Verlag für Collectors, Graz 1990, ISBN 3-85365-083-X , p. 143-152 .
Web links
- Miwa-san. Genius Loci, archived from the original on April 9, 2014 ; accessed on September 1, 2016 .
- Shrine Omiwa jinja at Culture-in-Asia: Omiwa shrine with description and photos
Individual evidence
- ^ Nelly Naumann : The indigenous religion of Japan . Until the end of the Heian period. In: Nelly Naumann, Horst Hammitzsch , WJ Boot, Bertold Spuler , Hartwig Altenmüller (Hrsg.): Handbuch der Orientalistik . Brill, 1988, ISBN 978-90-04-08591-6 , pp. 123 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed February 15, 2009]).
- ↑ Ō-Miwa Shrine. Retrieved February 15, 2009 (Japanese).