butsuden 仏殿

Also *daiyū hōden 大雄宝殿. The main hall of a Zen temple. Butsuden can be classified into three different types.

1　The simplest is 3 x 3 bays and does not have an additional aisle *mokoshi 裳階. Examples include: Fusaiji 普済寺 Butsuden (1357) in Kyoto is 5.75 x 5.75 m square, and Ten'onji 天恩寺 Butsuden (1362) in Aichi Prefecture is 6.25 x 6.99 m.

2　A 3 x 3 bay hall with a mokoshi, which is an additional aisle one bay deep with pent roof and bracket arms *hijiki 肘木, inserted directly into the shafts of the core *moya 母屋, pillars. Examples include: Saionji 最恩寺 Butsuden (mid-14th century) in Yamanashi Prefecture, including the mokoshi, is 3 x 3 bays, 6.26 x 6.26 m. The moya is 1 x 1 bay square. However, on the interior behind the altar there are two pillars *raigō-bashira 来迎柱, with a wall *raigō-kabe 来迎壁, stretched between them. Kōzanji 功山寺 Butsuden (1320) in Yamaguchi Prefecture has a moya that is 3 x 3 bays with a mokoshi added, making it a 5 x 5 bay building as viewed from the exterior. Like the smaller Saionji Butsuden, it has raigō-bashira and raigōkabe.

3　Very large butsuden, 5 x 5 bays square with a mokoshi added are known to have been built during the 13th and 14th century, but the only extant ones are the large 3 x 3 bay-type surrounded by a mokoshi. Examples include: Sennyūji 泉涌寺 Butsuden (1669) in Kyoto, which is 17.73 x 15.95 m including the mokoshi. The core area has pillars of large diameter all around and a platform with steps on both sides and at the front. Myōshinji 妙心寺 Butsuden (1827) in Kyoto is 17.04 x 17.04 m with a usual arrangement of a 3 x 3 bay core except that the pillar at the center rear has been omitted. The mokoshi is 5-bays around the core. Both buildings have raigō-bashira and raigō-kabe. Many buildings called *hondō 本堂 or named after the main image enshrined are also known as butsuden. Examples: Tōkōji 東光寺 Butsuden (1538), also called Tōkōji Yakushidō 薬師堂 in Yamanashi Prefecture; Daitokuji 大徳寺 Hondō (1665) in Kyoto, also Daitokuji Butsuden.