Sarureo Shrine Heiden (Offering Hall)

An Offering Hall Open to the Mound

The Sarureo Shrine Heiden (Offering Hall) (讃留霊王神社幣殿) is a single-storey timber offering hall of the late Meiji period at Sarureo Shrine, on a low hill at Shimohogunji, Hanzan-cho, Marugame City, Kagawa Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on March 27, 2018 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records a single-storey timber hall with a cypress-bark roof, temporarily covered in copper sheet, and a building area of 6.0 square metres, registration number 37-428.

A Shrine Whose Deity Is a Burial Mound

According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Sarureo Shrine stands on a low hill in the plain south of Marugame City, and its object of worship is the round burial mound behind it, the Sarureo Kofun. Steps lead up from the entrance at the east end of the grounds to the worship and offering halls, behind which a stone fence encloses the top of the mound.

The offering hall, stone fence and torii of Sarureo Shrine were registered on March 27, 2018. The Agency for Cultural Affairs lists the owner as the religious corporation Yasaka Shrine.

Value as a Registered Cultural Property

The Sarureo Shrine Heiden (Offering Hall) was registered as a structure that has become a model of design. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes as its distinctive feature that, with the Sarureo Kofun behind it as the object of worship, it has panelled doors at the back as well as the front.

What to Look For

The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes a one-bay hall with a hip-and-gable roof of cypress bark, two-stepped bracketing on round pillars, two-tier fan rafters and a veranda on all four sides.

By opening doors toward the mound behind it, the Sarureo Shrine Heiden (Offering Hall) expresses the character of a shrine whose object of worship is a burial mound (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

The Sarureo Shrine Heiden (Offering Hall) stands within the shrine grounds. No public access information has been confirmed, so respect worshippers and take care not to damage the grounds, which include the burial mound. The address is 1459 Shimohogunji, Hanzan-cho, Marugame City. The three registered structures are gathered on the group page Sarureo Shrine.