Lit. five-ring pagoda. Also gorin 五輪, gorin sekitō 五輪石塔, hōkaitō 法界塔, gorin tōba 五輪塔婆, gogedatsurin 五解脱輪. A five-storied pagoda (Sk: stupa) in which each story corresponds to one of five elements. The bottom story is square and corresponds to the earth ring *chirin 地輪. Next is the spherical water ring *suirin 水輪, surmounted by the triangular ring of fire karin 火輪. Above this is a reclining half-moon shape fūrin 風輪, representing the wind, and topmost is the gem-shaped ring of space kūrin 空輪. It is believed that the gorintō was first adopted in the mid-Heian period by the esoteric Buddhist sects, Shingon 真言 and Tendai 天台. In Shingon Buddhism it symbolized *Dainichi 大日, the supreme Buddha, 'essence of the infinite levels of the unconscious mind.' Buddha was also thought to be a manifestation of the universal five elements. Each story of the pagoda is usually inscribed with the Sanskrit character for the element represented. After the Heian period the gorintō was often used as a funerary monument. Most gorintō are two to three meters high; the tallest example, at Iwashimizu Hachimangū 岩清水八幡宮, is six meters high. Large examples are made of stone gorin sekitō, while smaller ones are sometimes made from wood ita gorintōba 板五輪塔婆, clay nendo gorintōba 粘土五輪塔婆, or metal. These smaller stupas are used as votive offerings, and are often hand crafted by those who present them to the temple. The oldest known Chūsonji 中尊寺 Gorintō (1169), can be seen at Chūsonji Shakuson'in 釈尊院 in Iwate Prefecture. Sometimes parts of a gorintō are used for decoration in a garden, and the spherical water ring and the trapezoidal fire ring sometimes serve as a handwash basin *chōzubachi 手水鉢. An example of this type can be seen at Katsura Rikyū 桂離宮 in Kyoto. Sometimes a small-scale gorintō made from a single block of stone, issekikokusei gorintō 一石刻成五輪塔, is also used in private gardens.
