Tenborindo or Shakado (Important Cultural Property) 転法輪堂（釈迦堂）（重文）

Official explanation

Also called the Shakado, or the Saito Chudo, this is the central hall of the Western Pagoda area. This area was developed by the second Tendai Abbot Encho (771–836) who received his religious training directly from Saicho, who also built this hall. The central image is of the Buddha Shaka Nyorai, carved by Saicho himself using sacred wood from the Todo district’s northern valley. The stone floor of the inner sanctum is lower than the level where worshippers sit so that the statue of the Buddha is at the same level as the worshippers. This is a feature of Tendai Buddhist architecture, and follows the style of the Konpon Chudo in the Todo eastern district.

The hall temporarily fell into disrepair before it was restored by Ryogen (912–985). This hall was burnt down by the warlord Oda Nobunaga (1534–1582) during the siege of Mount Hiei in 1571 as part of his campaign to reunify Japan after more than a century of civil war. In 1595, the monk Senshun (1540–1600) made a request for the rebuilding of the hall to Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537–1598) who reunified Japan after the death of Nobunaga. The Miroku-do of the Miidera temple was moved here. Dating back to 1347, it is the oldest surviving Buddhist hall on Mount Hiei.

Read the full explanation

S: Sanskrit

Tenborindo (Hall for Turning the Wheel of the Law)

Shakado (Shakyamuni Hall)

Konpon Chudo (Central Hall)

Saito Chudo (Central Saito Hall)

Shaka Nyorai (S. Shakyamuni Buddha)

Mirokudo (Maitreya Hall)

出典: 地域観光資源の多言語解説文データベース（観光庁） — www.mlit.go.jp/tagengo-db. この英語解説文は観光庁の地域観光資源の多言語解説整備支援事業で作成しました。
Source: Japan Tourism Agency, Multilingual Explanation Database. This English text was produced by the Japan Tourism Agency's multilingual explanation project and is shown unedited. Opening hours and services may have changed since it was written.