Atago Shrine

Atago Shrine sits on a slope above Engyoji's Three Halls, built to protect them from fire after the complex burned in 1331. Its most distinctive feature is a sweeping thatched roof covered in tens of thousands of thin wooden shingles that curve upward at the front into a graceful arch. Visitors ring the hanging bell beneath that arch before praying and leaving offerings. Like several shrines on these grounds, Atago reflects the centuries-long overlap between Buddhism and Shinto in Japan. Atago the deity was worshipped across both traditions, and the shrine's presence within a Buddhist temple complex was entirely natural.