Nagaheta Konpira Shrine

 

Nagaheta is a village on the Kyuragi River in what is now Ochi Town in Karatsu, Saga.

The village shrine is a Konpira Shrine, one of more than 600 branch shrines nationwide of the famous Konpira Shrine in Shikoku.

Once a major cultic centre and pilgrimage destination, Konpira is known for safety at sea, and nowadays all travel.

With origins probably to the Indian deity Kumbira, Konpira was always a syncretic Buddhist-"shinto"; Yamabushi site, but in 1868 became purely "shinto" with the kami Omononushi, generally believed to be a manifestation of Okuninushi.

there was no signboard so I have no idea of the history of this branch, nor the secondary shrines in the grounds. However the unusual Komainu are said to be Hizen-style and similar to others I had seen in Saga.

I visited on the morning of my 72nd day walking around Kyushu. The previous post was on the early morning along the Matsuura River.