多賀大社
604 Oaza Taga, Taga Town, Inukami District, Shiga Prefecture
Taga Taisha, the Sannomiya of Omi Province, has long been known as "Otagasan" and was revered as "Taga Myojin" during the medieval period.
It is mentioned in the Kojiki, where it states, "Izanagi no Okami resides at Taga in Awami," referring to Taga Taisha.
Before the Kojiki, it is believed that the ancestral gods of the Inukami clan, who ruled this area, were enshrined here.
During the mid-Muromachi period, syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism advanced, and Fudoin, built as a Shinguji temple, spread its faith nationwide.
In the Edo period, it flourished alongside pilgrimages to Ise and Kumano, leading to the saying, "If you visit Ise, you must visit Taga as well; Ise is the parent, Taga is the child; visit Ise seven times, Kumano three times, and Taga monthly."
The torii gate leads to a small stream in front of the gate, spanned by a curved bridge.
This stone drum bridge, also a cultural property of Taga Town, is called "Taiko Bridge" due to Toyotomi Hideyoshi's devotion.
The gate at the entrance to the shrine grounds is a thatched shikyakumon (four-legged gate).
It has a kirizuma roof and serves as the main entrance to the shrine.
A straight stone-paved path leads from the open gate to the large shrine building ahead.
The main hall, worship hall, kagura hall, and heiden are all made of plain wood with thatched cypress bark roofs.
The honden, built in the taisha-zukuri style, is surrounded by corridors and fences extending from the kagura hall.
The overlapping roofs of the structures create a very impressive sight.
To the right in front of the worship hall is a Noh stage, and within the shrine grounds, there are 15 auxiliary and subordinate shrines.
Himuka Shrine is at the entrance to the west approach, Tenman Shrine and Akiba Shrine at the main entrance, and behind the main hall is the approach to Inari Shrine, with rows of red torii gates of Kinsaku Inari Shrine.
The bell on the west side of the shrine grounds is a prefectural cultural property.
The bell, cast in 1555, was dedicated during major renovations of the shrine, under the reverence of the Rokkaku and Asai clans.
It measures 156.2 cm in height, 209.2 cm from the dragon head to the base, and 127 cm in diameter, making it one of the largest bells in Japan.