Editing Altar (section)

==Buddhism==
[[File:Bàn thờ gia đình truyền thống.jpg|thumb|A {{Lang|vi|bàn thờ}} (worship table) is an altar used in [[ancestral worship]] and worship of [[Buddhahood|Buddhas]] and [[Vietnamese folk religion|gods]] in [[Vietnam]]]] 
[[File:Butsudan at ShinDo Buddhist Temple.jpg|thumb|left|A butsudan at ShinDo Buddhist Temple]]

In Buddhist-following cultures, structures such as {{Lang|vi|bàn thờ}}, [[butsudan]], or [[spirit house]]s are found in temples or homes. In Japan, the butsudan is a wooden cabinet with doors that enclose and protect a religious image of the [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] or the [[Bodhisattvas]] (typically in the form of a statue) or a [[mandala]] [[scroll]], installed in the highest place of honor and centered. The doors are opened to display the image during religious observances. A butsudan usually contains subsidiary religious items—called ''butsugu''—such as candlesticks, incense burners, bells, and platforms for placing offerings such as fruit. Some sects place ''ihai'', memorial tablets for deceased relatives, within or near the butsudan. Butsudans are often decorated with flowers.

The shrine is placed in the temple or home as a place of worship to the Buddha, the Law of the Universe, etc. Scrolls (''honzon'') or statues are placed in the butsudan and prayed to morning and evening. [[Zen Buddhism|Zen Buddhists]] also [[meditation|meditate]] before the butsudan.

The original design for the butsudan began in [[India]], where people built altars as an offering-place to the Buddha. When Buddhism came to [[China]] and [[Korea]] statues of the Buddha were placed on pedestals or platforms. The Chinese and Koreans built walls and doors around the statues to shield them from the [[weather]] and also adapted elements of their respective indigenous religions. They could then safely offer their prayers, incense, etc. to the statue or scroll without it falling and breaking.