Since the time of the Buddha, when a holy man would die, he would be buried. His burial site would become a shrine, or a memorial. This shrine would be visited by people, with the hope that his spiritual energy would bring them various benefits. So people visit the shrines for satisfying basic needs, like getting married, getting children, getting a good harvest, being cured of disease, finding lost cattle, or resolving disputes within the family. Thus, across India, we find shrines of holy men and women, from north to south, east to west.

But, atop these burial sites, lies the layer of religion. If one goes towards Ladakh, we find these holy shrines built on the graves of Buddhist teachers. These teachers practised Vajrayana or Tantric Buddhism. In earlier times, such shrines were built over teachers of Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism. This practice perhaps began from the time of the Buddha or earlier.