The word godai combines the kanji for five (go) and great (dai), the name for one of the fundamental concepts in Japanese culture, the five elements: earth, water, fire, wind and void. The gorintou is the three-dimensional representation of the five elemnents, perhaps best described as a stack of geometric forms: at the bottom the square representing earth; above the square is a sphere representing water; above the sphere a pirmamid represents fire; a cresent sits on top of the piramid and represents wind; whilst the central Buddhist icon, the lotus flower, which represents the void.
The gorintou is typically used as a gravestone and the pictures are from the cemetry in Koyasan.