Tawara Festival (Festival of the Three Shrines)

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Tawara Festival (Festival of the Three Shrines)

Oct.02.2018

Said to have begun in the Heian period [794 to 1185], this thrilling festival includes the mikoshi [portable shrines] of three shrines: Mikurosu, Omiya and San-no-miya. In the kankosai celebration when the mikoshi are brought back from the otabisho where they are placed during the festival, 15 kariya (tents carrying family crests) are set up, and the arts of seino [“voice of a venerable sage”], shishimai [lion dance], dengaku [dance and music as prayer for good rice harvest] and o-no-mai [dance of the kings] are offered to the deities, and the mikoshi leave after a kakeuma [galloping horse performance]. These arts (dances) are registered as intangible folk-cultural properties of Kyoto Prefecture. On the eve of the kankosai, night stalls are set up near the otabisho, adding to the excitement.