nenbutsudō 念仏堂

A hall within the precinct of a Buddhist temple used for the purpose of training Buddhist monks to meditate on and recite the nenbutsu 念仏, a formula for praying to *Amida 阿弥陀. The formula, Namu Amida Butsu 南無阿弥陀仏 pays homage to Amida, the central deity of the Pure Land sects, Jōdoshū 浄土宗 and Jōdoshinshū 浄土真宗. It is presumed that those who have deep faith in Amida and repeat the Namu Amidabutsu again and again, can be born into his Pure Land, the Western Paradise. Examples: Tōdaiji Nenbutsudō 東大寺念仏堂 (1237) in Nara. This small hall, 3 × 3 bays (10.11 m ) has a simple plan with a 1-bay square core *moya 母屋, surrounded by aisles *hisashi 廂, on all sides. A plank floor throughout contains a center square bay one step high than the aisles. The ceiling over the center bay is coved, coffered and finely latticed *oriage kogumi gōtenjō 折上小組格天井. The ceiling over the aisles is open to the underside of the roof *keshō yaneura 化粧屋根裏. Ｔhe roof is hipped, *yosemune-zukuri 寄棟造, but in the shikoro style *shikorobuki 錣葺. The roofing is tile *hongawarabuki 本瓦葺. The bracket complexes are 3-on-1 at right angles to each other *demitsudo 出三斗, and the struts are capped with bearing blocks *kentozuka 間斗束, centered in the interstices between bracket complexes. There are also double eaves *futanoki 二軒, which are closely spaced *shigedaruki 繁垂木. A later example is Daionji Nenbutsudō 大恩寺念仏堂 (1553) in Aichi Prefecture. The structure was originally 3 × 3 bays but enlarged to 5 × 5 bays. The roof is hip-and-gable but is unusual in the different treatment in the gable pediments: the north one has rainbow beam and bottle struts *kōryō taiheizuka 虹梁大瓶束, while the south one has only a strut *tsuka 束.