A worship hall at a Shinto shrine, usually placed on the same axis as the offering hall, *heiden 幣殿, and the main sanctuary, *honden 本殿. Scholarly opinion varies as to the origin of the hall. The most likely possibilities are: 1) The haiden was derived from either the *raidō, 礼堂 (worship hall in Buddhist temples), and was first called *raiden, 礼殿, at shrines; 2) the hall was derived from the *maidono, 舞殿, a stage used to perform ritual dance and music; 3) the hall was derived from the ancient Buddhist practice of reciting sutras from the middle gate, *chūmon 中門, or from the attached semi-enclosed corridors, *kairō 回廊. Some shrines built in mountainous areas have only a haiden because deities are thought to live in the surrounding mountains. Examples: Ōmiwa Jinja 大神神社 in Nara, Kanasana Jinja 金鑚神社 in Saitama Prefecture.
