Hanabusa

Taiyuin Reibyo Nitenmon Gate

by naruto

The Nitenmon is the biggest gate in Nikko. "Niten" can be translated as two gods, therefore the Nitenmon Gate can be called the "Gate of Two Gods". The two gods are called Jikokuten and Koumokuten, and these are two of the ***ennou (Deva kings).
In addition, this gate also is called Kaminarimon (Gate of Thunder) because image of Raijin (God of thunder) is put on the backside of the gate.

On the backside of the gate, you will find images of the red Raijin and blue Fujin (God of wind). Look closely, and you can see that The Raijin's fingers are just three, and each finger expresses past, present and future. On the hand, the Fujin's fingers are four, and each finger expresses the East, the West, the South and the North. Also, the Raijin and Fujin have two fingers for the leg. Those two fingers indicate the sky and the ground.