Sanmon

A sanmon is the principal gate of a Japanese Zen Buddhist temple, one of the buildings that make up the temple shichido garan, its seven halls. A first rank temple sanmon is typically a two story gate five bays wide with three entrances, while lesser temples build smaller versions with a single entrance, so the size of a temple sanmon signals its standing within the Zen hierarchy. The gate stands between the outer gate and the main hall and its three passages represent the three liberations on the path to enlightenment; it is built with no doors, since it is meant to stand permanently open as a symbolic threshold between the secular world and the sacred precinct rather than to serve any practical defensive purpose.