In Shinto shrine architecture, the is the hall of worship or oratory

Oratory (worship)

An oratory is a Christian room for prayer, from the Latin orare, to pray.-Catholic church:In the Roman Catholic Church, an oratory is a structure other than a parish church, set aside by ecclesiastical authority for prayer and the celebration of Mass...

. It is generally placed in front of the shrine's main sanctuary (honden

Honden

The , is the most sacred building at a Shinto shrine, intended purely for the use of the enshrined kami, usually symbolized by a mirror or sometimes by a statue. The building is normally in the rear of the shrine and closed to the general public. In front of its usually stands the haiden, or...

) and often built on a larger scale than the latter. The haiden is often connected to the honden by a heiden

Heiden (Shinto)

A is the part within a Shinto shrine's compound used to house offerings. It normally consists of a connecting section linking the honden to the haiden . If the shrine is built in the so-called Ishi-no-ma-zukuri style, its stone pavement is lower than the floor of the other two rooms, and it is...

, or hall of offerings. While the honden is the place for the enshrined kami

Kami

is the Japanese word for the spirits, natural forces, or essence in the Shinto faith. Although the word is sometimes translated as "god" or "deity", some Shinto scholars argue that such a translation can cause a misunderstanding of the term...

and off-limits to the general public, the haiden provides a space for ceremonies and for worshiping the kami. In some cases, for example at Nara

Nara Prefecture

is a prefecture in the Kansai region on Honshū Island, Japan. The capital is the city of Nara.-History:The present-day Nara Prefecture was created in 1887, making it independent of Osaka Prefecture....

's Ōmiwa Shrine

Ōmiwa Shrine

, also known as , is a Shinto shrine located in Sakurai, Nara, Japan. The shrine is noted because it contains no sacred images or objects because it is believed to serve Mount Miwa, the mountain on which it stands. For the same reason, it has a , but no . In this sense, it is a model of what the...

, the honden can be missing and be replaced by a patch of sacred ground. In that case, the haiden is the most important building of the complex.