Kanrodai

The ('stand for the heavenly dew', or ) is a sacred entity in Tenrikyo and Tenrikyo-derived Japanese new religions, including (but not limited to) Honmichi, Honbushin, Kami Ichijokyo, Tenri Sanrinkō, and Daehan Cheolligyo. Tenrikyo, as well as a few of its schisms such as , considers the kanrodai to be a physical pillar. However, later Tenrikyo-derived schisms such as Honmichi, Kami Ichijokyo, and Tenri Sanrinkō give a new interpretation in which the kanrodai is embodied as a living person. Honbushin has installed a small stone kanrodai on Kamiyama, a mountain in Okayama, and also recognizes a human kanrodai who is the son of its founder Ōnishi Tama.

The first kanrodai was built in 1873 by Iburi Izō at Nakayama Miki's residence.

Origin

The concept of the kanrodai was first taught by Nakayama Miki, the foundress of Tenrikyo, in 1868. In 1873, she instructed her disciple Iburi Izō, who was a carpenter by trade, to make a wooden kanrodai. Before the location of the Jiba was identified in 1875, the wooden kanrodai was kept in the storehouse where Nakayama Miki resided. According to Nakayama Miki, the real kanrodai is to be made of stone. As a result, the current wooden kanrodai at the Jiba is sometimes known as a .

Tenrikyo

In Tenrikyo, the ''kanrodai'' (甘露台) is a hexagonal pillar in the Divine Residence (Oyasato) of the Tenrikyo Church Headquarters in Tenri, Nara, Japan. It marks the '' Jiba''. Adherents believe that when the hearts of human beings have been adequately purified through the Service, a sweet dew would fall from the heavens onto a vessel placed on top of the stand. Since 1875, there have been several different kanrodais installed at the Jiba.

*June 1875: After Nakayama Miki identified the sacred spot of the ''Jiba'' on 26 May 1875 (lunar calendar date), a two-metre high wooden kanrodai, which had been made two years ago in 1873 by Iburi Izō, was installed at the ''Jiba''.
*1881: Construction of a stone kanrodai began. Stones were quarried from a nearby village called Takimoto (滝本), located on the Furu River (布留川) about two kilometers east of the Nakayama residence. However, construction stopped after only two tiers were made, and the police confiscated it in 1882. A pile of pebbles marked the Jiba afterwards.
*1888: A wooden board kanrodai with two tiers was built and placed at the Jiba.
*1934: A complete 13-tier ''hinagata'' (雛形, or "model") kanrodai measuring approximately 2.5 metres high was built and placed at the Jiba. It has been regularly replaced on special occasions.
*July 2000: Most recent replacement of the kanrodai, as of 2005

The kanrodai itself is not worshipped. Rather, the kanrodai serves as a channel through which God the Parent is worshipped.

In Tenrikyo, due to the sacrosanct nature of the kanrodai, photographing the kanrodai is prohibited.

The following verse from the ''Mikagura-uta'' is the most commonly sung verse that mentions the kanrodai.
:あしきをはらうてたすけせきこむ / いちれつすましてかんろだい ''Ashiki o harōte, tasuke sekikomu / Ichiretsu sumashite Kanrodai''.
::Sweeping away evils, hasten to save us. / All humankind equally purified, the Kanrodai.

Honmichi

In Honmichi, the kanrodai is a living person. The religion's first kanrodai was its founder Ōnishi Aijirō. After his death, his grandson Ōnishi Yasuhiko became the kanrodai.

Every year, Honmichi followers celebrate to commemorate their founder.

Adherents of Tenri Sanrinkō, which split from Honmichi, also followed the tradition of Honmichi by revering their leader as the living kanrodai.

Honbushin

Honbushin recognizes both physical and human kanrodais. After Honbushin's founder Ōnishi Tama died on September 1, 1969, religious authority was passed onto her son Takeda Sōshin (武田 宗真), who was proclaimed as the new ''Kanrodai-sama'' (甘露台様) succeeding Ōnishi Aijirō.

In Honbushin, the kanrodai is placed outdoors, rather than indoors in a building as in Tenrikyo. Other than the main stone kanrodai, multiple "model" (wooden) kanrodais can be placed in different locations, unlike in Tenrikyo where only one kanrodai can be placed only at the headquarter's ''jiba''. Honbushin's main kanrodai is located in a shrine on the summit of Kamiyama (), located southeast of the city center of Okayama. It is a small outdoor hexagonal stone pillar, with a much larger vertically standing stone disk installed behind it, and a torii gate in front of it. The location of the kanrodai is known as ''kanrodai-no-ba'' (甘露台の場). This is symbolically represented in Honbushin's official logo, the Peace Mark (平和マーク). The logo consists of a kanrodai inside a circle representing the blessings of God, who is known as Kami-sama (神様).

There is also a large outdoor wooden kanrodai at the Honbushin International Center in Mililani, Hawaii, United States. The actual main kanrodai (i.e., the kanrodai on the summit of Kamiyama) must be made of stone, whereas all of the other kanrodais are only considered to be models and are thus made of wood.

Honbushin followers chant the mantra ''Namu Kanrodai'' (南無甘露台) to honor the kanrodai.

Kami Ichijokyo

In Kami Ichijokyo, the religion's founder Yonetani Tamasuisen (米谷玉水仙) is revered as the .

Daidōkyō

, a Tenrikyo splinter group founded by in 1897, has a stone kanrodai inside its main temple building called Shinbashira-den (真柱殿) in Ando, Nara. The stone kandorai is usually covered by a bamboo curtain.

Daehan Cheolligyo

Unlike in Japanese Tenrikyo, Daehan Cheolligyo's adherents in South Korea directly pray to the wooden kanrodai fixtures (while the one in the headquarters in Uijeongbu is much bigger) that are installed within the main halls of respective churches, instead of mirrors from Shinto traditions, during the localized services appropriate for the Korean social environment.

Uchūshinkyō Kōmyōjin

In 2024, a sacred pole called the ''mibashira'' (御柱), considered to be the "zero point" (ゼロポイント) and center of the earth and universe, was installed just outside the main worship hall (本殿, ''honden'') of the Uchūshinkyō Kōmyōjin ( 宇宙神教光明神) or Kōmyō Kamu Tama Jingū (光明神玉神宮) religion in Yoshida District, Fukui, Japan. The ''mibashira'' itself is cylindrical, while the base is heptagonal.

See also

* Asherah pole, Canaanite sacred tree or pole honouring Asherah, consort of El
* ''Axis mundi''
* Baetylus, type of sacred standing stone
* Bema and bimah, elevated platform
* Benben
* Black Stone in Islam
* Ceremonial pole
* Foundation Stone in Judaism
* High place, raised place of worship
* Kami, central objects of worship in Shinto, some of which are natural phenomena and objects including stones
* Lingam, an abstract representation of the Hindu deity Shiva
* Matzevah, sacred pillar (Hebrew Bible) or Jewish headstone
* Omphalos of Delphi
* Peace pole
* Pole worship
* Totem pole

References

External links

The kanrodai
in the religion
* ''Eighteen narratives about the kanrodai'' (甘露台十八話) (1935), on Wikimedia Commons

{{Honbushin bottom

Tenrikyo
Geographical centres
Religious objects
Mythological objects
Japanese religious terminology