五輪塔「ごりんとう」：Five-ringed tower

 五輪塔「ごりんとう」：Five-ringed tower

The 五輪塔 is a type of Buddhist pagoda used for memorial purposes. Each layer symbolises one of the five elements: the earth ring (地) at the bottom as a cube, the sphere representing water (水), the pyramid representing fire (火), the crescent as air (風), and the ether ring or jewel shaped tier representing energy or void (空). After visiting 奥の院「おくのいん」at 高野山「こうやさん」or Mount Koya, I saw many of these 五輪塔. Here is one example that was very large, with our tour guide for comparison!