Temizu - Hand and Mouth Washing
The ritual washing at shrine entrances that prepares worshippers to encounter the sacred.
Before approaching a shrine's inner sanctum, worshippers perform temizu at the chozuya (water pavilion). Using a ladle, they wash hands and rinse mouth, symbolically purifying themselves. This simple act transitions one from the profane world to sacred space.
Clean hands and a pure mouth prepare the heart to meet the kami.
Temizu demonstrates how physical actions embody spiritual preparation in Shinto.
Shrine traditions
Written about in
- What Shinto says about reverence
At the water pavilion you rinse your hands and mouth before going further. It takes a few seconds, and it is the point at which most visitors stop being in a hurry.