The Tenrikyo faith is inseparable from Jiba.
We are taught that Jiba is the place where humans were first conceived at the time of creation. Because of this causality, God the Parent descended there at the arrival of the promised time, settled Oyasama as the Shrine of God, and began the ultimate teaching for universal salvation.
It was 1875 when Oyasama identified the exact location of Jiba—we refer to this event as the identification of Jiba.
The Kanrodai is set up at Jiba to mark its location. The Main Sanctuary of Tenrikyo Church Headquarters is constructed with the Kanrodai at center. Some people seem to think that the Kanrodai is the object of worship, but it is not; the Kanrodai is the marker of the location of Jiba. It serves as the focal point for worship and is the center around which the Kagura Service is performed.
Jiba exists not only for Tenrikyo followers but for all human beings. Everyone is a child of God the Parent, and Jiba is thus the home of all human beings. We speak of “returning to Jiba” instead of “going to Jiba” because Jiba is where God the Parent resides and where Oyasama, who remains everliving, works for all of us.
Tenrikyo Church Headquarters is located where Jiba is, and we are taught that it will always be so. It will not be moved anywhere else on the basis of convenience of transportation or the changes of the times, for example.
From Tenrikyo no kangaekata kurashikata published by Doyusha Publishing Company