Legend says it had originally enshrined Sukunabikona no kami in the mythological age, Sasakiyamagimi worshiped Obiko no Mikoto in the ancient times, and then Emperor Keiko constructed a large scale of a sanctuary at the transfer of the capital to Shigatakaanahomiya.
神代に少彦名神を祀ったことに始まり、古代に沙沙貴山君が大彦命を祭り、景行天皇が志賀高穴穂宮遷都に際して大規模な社殿を造営させたと伝わる。