Niutsuhime Shrineにうつひめじんじゃ

Kariba Myojin is the guardian deity of Mount Koya who most purely embodies the nature of a "God of Guidance." The religious logic that sacred sites are not found by humans but revealed by gods was narrativized into the legend of a hunter and divine dogs guiding an esoteric Buddhist practitioner into the mountains. His true name, Takanomiko no Okami, means the child deity of Niutsuhime. By both mother and son deities yielding the divine territory to Kukai, it represents the local pantheon's approval of the site becoming a sacred ground for Shingon esoteric Buddhism. The iconography of the kariginu, bow and arrows, and two dogs preserves the form of an ancient mountain god presiding over mountain livelihoods (hunting) and resonates with the historical fact that the Niu clan was a group of hunters accompanied by sacrificial dogs. The divine dogs generated a belief as "guiding divine dogs" leading people to good matches and happiness, a motif carried on by the modern Kishu dogs, Shiromaru and Kuromaru, at Niutsuhime Shrine. The footprints of this guiding deity are carved throughout the pilgrimage routes, such as the Mount Koya Choishi-michi and Niukanshofu Shrine.

Niutsuhime is the "god of the land" at the foundation of Mount Koya's religious landscape. Although the sacred site of Shingon esoteric Buddhism is known as the mountain of the Buddha (Dainichi Nyorai), its foundation is a land governed by local deities from before Kukai's arrival. The founding legend establishes the indispensable role of both Niu and Takano Myojin through a narrative of yielding this territory (dedication of divine land). The cinnabar indicated by the name "Niu" has been highly valued since ancient times as a mineral for preservation, warding off evil, and magic. The distribution of mercury veins at the foot of Mount Koya corroborates the existence of the Niu clan mining group and the deity they worshipped. Simultaneously, due to her location controlling the headwaters of the Kinokawa River, she is also revered as a water god, extending her protection to agriculture and irrigation. Under the syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism, she was considered a manifestation (suijaku) of the Womb Realm Dainichi Nyorai, and was enshrined in the Miyashiro and Amano-sha shrines within Mount Koya as the mountain's guardian. The romon gate and main sanctuary of the World Heritage Niutsuhime Shrine continue to convey that this goddess is the starting point of Mount Koya's 1,200 years of faith.