It had a deep association with Kamo-sha Shrine, located at Imadegawa (Kamigyo Ward, Kyoto City, around the present-day Sokoku-ji Temple), which was the north of gosho (Imperial Palace) as Jingu-ji Temple (a temple associated with a shrine).
賀茂社との関わりが深く、神宮寺として、御所の北、今出川（京都市上京区、現在の相国寺付近）にあった。