Tenborindo or Shakado (Important Cultural Property)
Also called the Shakado, or the Saito Chudo, this is the central hall of the Western Pagoda area. This area was developed by the second Tendai Abbot Encho (771–836) who received his religious training directly from Saicho, who also built this hall. The central image is of the Buddha Shaka Nyorai, carved by Saicho himself using sacred wood from the Todo district’s northern valley. The stone floor of the inner sanctum is lower than the level where worshippers sit so that the statue of the Buddha is at the same level as the worshippers. This is a feature of Tendai Buddhist architecture, and follows the style of the Konpon Chudo in the Todo eastern district.
The hall temporarily fell into disrepair before it was restored by Ryogen (912–985). This hall was burnt down by the warlord Oda Nobunaga (1534–1582) during the siege of Mount Hiei in 1571 as part of his campaign to reunify Japan after more than a century of civil war. In 1595, the monk Senshun (1540–1600) made a request for the rebuilding of the hall to Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537–1598) who reunified Japan after the death of Nobunaga. The Miroku-do of the Miidera temple was moved here. Dating back to 1347, it is the oldest surviving Buddhist hall on Mount Hiei.
S: Sanskrit
Tenborindo (Hall for Turning the Wheel of the Law)
Shakado (Shakyamuni Hall)
Konpon Chudo (Central Hall)
Saito Chudo (Central Saito Hall)
Shaka Nyorai (S. Shakyamuni Buddha)
Mirokudo (Maitreya Hall)