御手洗みたらし川がわ

noun

river for ritual hand-washing at a shrine

Refers to a river where worshippers perform 手水 (ちょうず) — washing hands and rinsing mouth — before approaching a shrine. Often found in shrine precincts or named as a specific river.

• 神じん社じゃの境けい内だいには御手洗みたらし川がわが流ながれている。

  A river for ritual hand-washing flows within the shrine grounds.

• 参さん拝ぱい前まえに御手洗みたらし川がわで手てを清きよめた。

  Before worship, I purified my hands at the ritual washing river.