Wayside shrine

They have been a feature of many cultures, including Chinese folk religious communities, Catholic and Orthodox Europe and some Asian regions.

Wayside shrines were often erected to honor the memory of the victim of an accident, which explains their prevalence near roads and paths; in Carinthia, for example, they often stand at crossroads.

The pre-Christian cultures of Europe had similar shrines of various types; many runestones may have been in this category, though they are often in the nature of a memorial to a dead person.

Few Christian shrines survive in predominantly Protestant countries, but they remain common in many parts of Catholic and Orthodox Europe, often being repaired or replaced as they fall into disrepair, and relocated as roads are moved or widened.

In Greece they may be called kandilakia (Greek: καντηλάκια) or εικονοστάσιο στην άκρη του δρόμου (ikonostásio stin akri tu drómu, literally "shrine at the roadside").

They are commonly built in the memory of a fatal car accident and usually include a photograph of the victim(s), their namesake Saint and sometimes personal items.

[1] Wayside shrines exist throughout India alongside other features of public faith, including lingams, ghats, and kunds.

[2] The majority of these shrines are Hindu, and their public nature and rootedness to place leads them to be described as key expressions of working-class religiosity.

[3] Wayside shrines provide meeting points for the micro-communities who partake in religious practice as well as maintenance of the objects.

A column shrine[4] (German: Bildstock, also Marterl, Helgenstöckli, or Wegstock; Slovene: slopno znamenje; Lithuanian: koplytstulpis) normally resembles a pole or a pillar, made either of wood or of masonry, and is sometimes capped with a roof.