The primitive shrines and altars such as the himorogi constructed for rituals carried out at rocks in which a kami was thought to dwell or kinsokuchi (tabooed land) on which a kami was thought to reside (commonly referred to as Shintaizan) were non permanent.
神社の起源は、磐座（いわくら）や神の住む場所である禁足地（俗に神体山）などで行われた祭事の際に臨時に建てた神籬（ひもろぎ）などの祭壇であり、元々は常設のものではなかった。