Iwakuraiwasaka - Iwakuraiwasaka

Japanese: 磐座･磐境 - いわくらいわさか

A specific area surrounded by rocks or stones where gods descend during festivals. The prevailing theory is that it was a place of worship in ancient rituals before the construction of shrine buildings. Omiwa Shrine in Sakurai City, Nara Prefecture, is famous for having no shrine building today and deifying Mount Miwa as its sacred object, but there are many rocks in the forbidden area within the mountain. There are also descent stones and shadow stones remaining at shrines around the country, which are also a type of rock. At Owari Okunitama Shrine in Aichi Prefecture, Ikushima Tarushima Shrine in Nagano Prefecture, and Keta Shrine in Ishikawa Prefecture, there are ruins of large stones arranged in a circle, which are said to be remnants of rock-border rituals.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

祭りに際して神が降臨する岩石もしくは石を築きめぐらした一定の場所のこと。社殿建築以前の古代祭祀における祭場という説が有力。奈良県桜井市の大神（おおみわ）神社は，現在も社殿がなく三輪（みわ）山を神体とすることで有名であるが，山内の禁足地にたくさんの磐座群がある。また各地の神社に降臨石･影向（ようごう）石などが残っているが，これも磐座の一種である。愛知県の尾張大国霊神社，長野県の生島足島（いくしまたるしま）神社，石川県の気多（けた）神社などには，大きな石を環状に並べた遺跡があり，磐境祭祀のなごりともいわれる。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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