And the train from Namba station brought us right to the doorstep of Sumiyoshi Taisha (住吉大社), or the Sumiyoshi Grand Shrine, which is a Shinto shrine in Sumiyoshi ward on the outskirts of Osaka city.
A commemorative pillar at the enterance of this Shinto shrine...
Shintoism is an ethnic religion of the Japanese which is followed by nearly 80 percent of the country's population. Literally, Shinto means the "way of the Gods"...
The Shinto belief system has an interesting legend on the creation of the Japanese archipelago - two Gods, Izanagi-no-Mikoto (male) and Izanami-no-Mikoto (female) were called upon by all the various gods to help each other to create a new land. They were given a spear with which they stirred the water, and when removed water dripped from the end, an island was created out of nothing.
They lived on this island and built a palace. Within the palace was large pole. When they wished to bear offspring, they performed a ritual each going round the pole, male to the left and female to the right, the female greeting the male first.
They had two children (islands) which turned out imperfect and they cast them out. They decided that the ritual had been done incorrectly the first time.
They repeated the ritual again and this the legend says gave birth to the eight perfect islands of the Japanese archipelago.
The gate of the shrine complex...
The Soribashi or the Taikobashi of the shrine - this is nothing but an arched bridge that leads into the temple complex...
This is quite a deceiving sight...
If I told you that you were in the Japanese countryside, wouldn't you believe me?
But you are in Osaka city. That is the beauty...
This is where one performs the Temizu - the act of cleansing oneself with water from the basin before entering the temple...
This reminded of the cleansing act performed in gurudwaras back home. How similar we all are in our religious thoughts...
The temple complex is so peaceful...
Despite the modernity of Japan, the Japanese are firmly moored to their ethnic traditions, which makes them really very unique as a nation...
We do something similar in India - tying strings around the peepul tree...
You can have your fortune told here for JPY 200...
The drum contains sticks with numbers on them. The drum is moved around to shuffle the bamboo sticks inside until one drops out...
Corresponding the number on the stick, you draw out the omikuji or fortune telling paper slips. They contain predictions ranging from daikichi ("great" good luck - I love the emphasis they give here) to daikyo ("great" bad luck)...
By tying the omikuji around a tree's branch, good fortune will come true or bad fortune can be averted, and so we believed...
A souvenir shop...
Wishes that people have are recorded on the wooden slates hoping the kami will bless them...
A Shinto wedding procession...
The procession looked very regimented...
The groom and the shy bride...
And I was instantly drawn to compare this procession with a Punjabi baaraat...
Perhaps that's what makes Japan what it is today - regimented and disciplined...
Pull the rope and ring the bell...
The main shrine...
We moved out of Sumiyoshi Taisha with a great appreciation for Japan and its culture...
And waiting at the Sumiyoshitorii-Mae station of the Hankai Tramway to take us to our next destination...
Adorable pandas on the trams - despite being Chinese, the Japanese love them...
They seem to say "Dude, racism is so stupid. I am black, white and Asian and yet everyone loves me!"
No comments:
Post a Comment