Gohōdō Shrines Worship Hall (Haiden)

This hall at Engyoji on Mt. Shosha dates to 1589 and blends the architectural conventions of temples and shrines in a single structure, unusual for the time. According to temple tradition, it was once the study room of the warrior monk Musashibō Benkei, who trained on the mountain between the ages of seven and ten. The desk he supposedly used is preserved on the second floor of the nearby Refectory. The hall's position is also architecturally unusual: instead of being attached directly to the principal shrines it serves, the Gohodo, it stands completely separate on the opposite side of the courtyard, used both as a worship hall and as a space for pilgrim rituals.