It is said (in "Tango no Kuni Fudoki" (The Records of the Culture and Geography in Tango Province)) that the location of this shrine is where the god was enshrined before it was transferred to Ise in 478, or according to another legend, it was originally enshrined at the location of the Hinumanai-jinja Shrine (present-day Mineyama-cho, Kyotango City), and then temporarily settled where this shrine is now built on the way to Ise ("The Records of Kasa-gun County") in 478.
それに基づいて当神社は雄略天皇22年に伊勢へ遷座したその故地であるといい（『丹後風土記』）、或いは、元鎮座地は比沼麻奈為神社（現京丹後市峰山町に鎮座）であるが、雄略天皇22年に伊勢へ遷座する途中で当神社の地にしばらく鎮座し、その跡地に建立したものであるともいう（『加佐郡誌』）。