gorintō

thumb|200px|right|A gorintō on top of the Mimizuka with Siddhaṃ inscriptions ("five-ringed tower") is a Japanese type of Buddhist pagoda believed to have been first adopted by the Shingon and Tendai sects during the mid Heian period. It is used for memorial or funerary purposes and is therefore common in Buddhist temples and cemeteries. It is also called ("five-ringed stupa") or , where the term sotoba is a transliteration of the Sanskrit word stupa. The stupa was originally a structure or other sacred building containing a relic of Buddha or of a saint, then it was gradually stylized in various ways and its shape can change quite a bit according to the era and to the country where it is found. Often offertory strips of wood with five subdivisions and covered with elaborate inscriptions also called sotoba can be found at tombs in Japanese cemeteries (see photo below). The inscriptions contain sūtra texts and the posthumous name of the dead person. These can be considered stupa variants.

== Structure and meaning == thumb|200px|left|Parts of a Gorintō In all its variations, the gorintō includes five rings (although that number can often be difficult to detect by decoration), each having one of the five shapes symbolic of the Five Elements, (Mahabhuta in Sanskrit, or Godai in Japanese): the earth ring (cube), the water ring (sphere), the fire ring (pyramid), the air ring (crescent), and the ether ring, (or energy, or void). The last two rings (air and ether) are visually and conceptually united into a single subgroup. The last shape, ether, is the one that changes most according to the country, and in Japan it is close to that of a lotus flower. The rings express the idea that after death our physical bodies will go back to their original, elemental form. Gorintō are usually made of stone, but some built in wood, metal, or crystal exist.