sekidō 石幢

Lit. "stone flag." A type of stone pagoda with a hexagonal or octagonal base, a banner-shaped shaft, dōshin 幢身, a niche, a coping stone shaped like a roof and one or more onion-shaped decorative jewels *hōju 宝珠, on top. Some sekidō have no base so that section is inserted directly into the ground. Sanskrit letters and/or Buddhist images are carved on each side of the shaft. Some sekidō have octagonal or hexagonal shafts. Many have only a shaft and roof. Sometimes they resemble stone lanterns without a lightbox. According to some scholars sekidō probably evolved from *kasatōba 笠塔婆. The oldest extant date from the Kamakura period, but many were made in the late 14th century, and after.