The shrine was the first of the Kampei Taisha (Great Imperial Shrines) under the Meiji period integrated system of shrine ranks and second only to Ise-jingu Shrine, with it becoming a Chokusaisha (shrine attended by imperial envoy) in 1883.
明治の近代社格制度でも、官幣大社の筆頭という、伊勢神宮の次位の神社とされ、明治16年には勅祭社に定められた。