Niutsuhime Shrine

The deity of the shrine is called Niutsuhimenokami. Niutsuhimenokami had given a divine message to Empress Jingu when the troops were sent to Shiragi (current Korea). There is a saying that the God was enshrined at “Kinokuni Tsutsugawa Fujishiro-no-mine” (current Tsutsuka, Koya town) for the Empress had gained a magical loam (soil) and won the war. This loam is mercury sulfide so the shrine can be said that it is the guardian God of Niu, who had been involved in mining and production of the mineral. Also, because this place, Tsutsuka, is the headspring of the Niu river, it can be said to be the mountain God of water. An article from the Heian era says that the Niutsuhimenokami was the child of the Gods Izanami and Izanagi and the sister of Amaterasuookami. She descended on the land of Kinokuni and was enshrined in the Amano-sato after she had opened rice paddy fields on the land of Kinokuni and Yamatonokuni.

The God of Niu has been deeply related to Koyasan since Kukai founded the temple. In the oral epic told in the 10^th century, there is a saying that the God of Niu had given Kukai a piece of land. There is another saying that the Koya-myojin introduced her to Koyasan, and she gave the piece of land on that occasion.

The Koya-myojin is also called the Kariba-myojin and is said to be the son of Niu. He transformed himself into a hunter with two dogs, white and black, trailing along with Kukai when he guided him to Koyasan.  These two Gods are worshipped as the guardians of Koyasan, where Gashin who had revived Koyasan built the Myo-jinja (Miyashiro) in 957 on Koyasan.

The main hall (National Important Cultural Asset) is a Kasuga-style building, with four buildings altogether including the two of them which were rebuilt in 1469. The double hip-and-gabled two-storied gate (National Important Cultural Asset), was rebuilt in 1499.