Kumano Hayatama Taisha (熊野速玉大社) is a Shinto shrine located in Shingu, Wakayama Prefecture, on the shores of the Kumanogawa in the Kii Peninsula of Japan. It is included as part of the Kumano Sanzan in the UNESCO World Heritage site “Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range”. The three Kumano Sanzan shrines are the Sōhonsha (“head shrines”) of all Kumano shrines, lie at between 20 to 40 km of distance one from the other and are connected by the pilgrimage route known as “Kumano Sankeimichi” (熊野参詣道).
Reference : Kumano Hayatama Taisha – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Kumano Kodō (熊野古道) is a series of ancient pilgrimage routes that crisscross the Kii Hantō, the largest Peninsula of Japan. These sacred trails were and are still used for the pilgrimage to the sacred site “Kumano Sanzan” (熊野三山）), or the Three Grand Shrines of Kumano: Kumano Hongū Taisha (熊野本宮大社), Kumano Nachi Taisha (熊野那智大社) and Kumano Hayatama Taisha (熊野速玉大社). The Kumano Kodō pilgrimage routes that lead to Kumano can be geographically categorized into three sub-routes: “Kiji”, “Kohechi” and “Iseji”. The Kumano Kodō and Kumano Sanzan, along with Koyasan and Yoshino and Omine, were registered as UNESCO World Heritage on July 7, 2004 as the “Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range”.
Reference : Kumano Kodō – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia