The shrine that has been swept away by a massive landslide was obviously a building that had great cultural significance for the villagers in the story. No one knows for sure quite how long the shrine had stood before it was washed away, but as one of the villagers says, it must have been there for an awfully long time.

In any case, the general consensus soon emerges that the shrine has to be rebuilt straight away. It isn't explicitly stated in the story, but perhaps there's a sense here that the villagers will need somewhere to pray in the coming months as the long, laborious process of rebuilding the village gets under way in the aftermath of this natural disaster.

At first, the villagers want to rebuild the shrine over the enormous hole that has opened up in the ground. However, no one seems to know for sure exactly where the shrine once stood. In any case, one of the concessionaires comes forward and offers to fill in the hole. In response to the mayor saying that he intends to rebuild the shrine over the hole, the concessionaire promises to build a new shrine with a meeting hall, but not on top of the filled-in hole. It will be built nearer the village.