Mōfu Temple

Mōfu Temple [もうふ方; もうふほら / Sunpaku: もうふ・にや, also known as Mōfu Shrine] is a 11th-century site of worship built by the Summui people in the city of Sakatta in Zōhai Prefecture. The temple is considered to be one of the most important religious establishments in the prefecture due to its age, its impressive preservation through the centuries, and the information it gives historians as to how the ancient islanders worshipped.
The temple was constructed on a hill in what is now Sakatta's northern ward; it is posited that the settlement was originally built around this structure and began as a temple town or horama. Mōfu is unique in the fact that it is built with wooden foundations, which is quite rare for any building in Zōhai. Historians believe that other architectural details present in the building point to the influence and use of Chinese construction techniques. Although the interior has been refurbished and changed countless times through history, the original layout of the temple has survived completely.
Mōfu Temple is well-known for the Mōfu Bihon, or Mōfu holy book, a tome written possibly in the 1200s detailing a local myth surrounding two deities, Muinaro of the ocean and Tannafu of the sky.
Category:Temples