PAGODA

Dr Uday dokras
Also inspired by an article of By Meher McArthur- Buddhistdoor Global | 2016-01-22 |
A pagoda is a tiered tower with multiple eaves common to China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and
other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most
often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, and were often located in or near viharas. The pagoda
traces its origins to the stupa of ancient India.
Chinese pagodas (Chinese: 塔 ; pinyin: Tǎ) are a traditional part of Chinese architecture. In
addition to religious use, since ancient times Chinese pagodas have been praised for the
spectacular views they offer, and many famous poems in Chinese history attest to the joy of
scaling pagodas. The oldest and tallest were built of wood, but most that survived were built
of brick or stone. Some pagodas were solid, and had no interior at all. Others were hollow
and held within themselves an altar, with the larger frequently containing a smaller pagoda
(pagodas were not inhabited buildings and had no "floors" or "rooms"). The pagoda's interior
has a series of staircases that allow the visitor to ascend to the top of the building and to
witness the view from an opening on one side at each story. Most have between three and 13
stories (almost always an odd number) and the classic gradual tiered eaves.
In some countries, the term may refer to other religious structures. In Vietnam and Cambodia,
due to French translation, the English term pagoda is a more generic term referring to a place
of worship, although pagoda is not an accurate word to describe a Buddhist vihara. The
architectural structure of the stupa has spread across Asia, taking on many diverse forms as
details specific to different regions are incorporated into the overall design.
Many Philippine bell towers are highly influenced by pagodas through Chinese workers hired
by the Spaniards.
One proposed etymology is from a South Chinese pronunciation of the term for an eight-
cornered tower, Chinese: 八 角 塔 , and reinforced by the name of a famous pagoda
encountered by many early European visitors to China, the "Pázhōu tǎ" (Chinese: 琶洲塔 ),
standing just south of Guangzhou at Whampoa Anchorage. Another proposed etymology
is Persian butkada, from but, "idol" and kada, "temple, dwelling."[
Another etymology, found in many English language dictionaries, is modern
English pagoda from Portuguese (via Dravidian), from Sanskrit bhagavati, feminine
of bhagavat, "blessed", from bhag, "good fortune"
Yet another etymology of pagoda is from the Sinhala word dāgaba which is derived from
Sanskrit dhātugarbha or Pali dhātugabbha: "relic womb/chamber" or "reliquary shrine", i.e.
a stupa, by way of Portuguese.[8]

1
2
Kek Lok Si pagoda tiers labelled with their architectural styles
The origin of the pagoda can be traced to the stupa (3rd century BCE).[3] The stupa, a dome
shaped monument, was used as a commemorative monument associated with storing sacred
relics. In East Asia, the architecture of Chinese towers and Chinese pavilions blended into
pagoda architecture, eventually also spreading to Southeast Asia. The pagoda's original
purpose was to house relics and sacred writings.[9] This purpose was popularized due to the
efforts of Buddhist missionaries, pilgrims, rulers, and ordinary devotees to seek out,
distribute, and extol Buddhist relics.
These buildings (pagoda, stupa) became prominent as Buddhist monuments used for
enshrining sacred relics. In Japan, there exist a total of 22 five-storied timber pagodas
constructed before 1850.
China
Earliest base-structure type for Chinese pagodas were square-base and circular-base. By the
5th-10th centuries the Chinese began to build octagonal-base pagoda towers. The highest
Chinese pagoda from the pre-modern age is the Liaodi Pagoda of Kaiyuan Monastery,

3
Dingxian, Hebei province, completed in the year 1055 AD under Emperor Renzong of
Song and standing at a total height of 84 m (275 ft). Although it no longer stands, the tallest
pre-modern pagoda in Chinese history was the 100-metre-tall wooden pagoda (330 ft)
of Chang'an, built by Emperor Yang of Sui.[12] The Liaodi Pagoda is the tallest pre-modern
pagoda still standing, yet in April 2007 a new wooden pagoda at the Tianning
Temple of Changzhou was opened to the public; this pagoda is now the tallest in China,
standing at 154 m (505 ft).

SYMBOLISM & GEOMETRY

Chinese iconography is noticeable in Chinese pagoda as well as other East Asian pagoda
architectures. Iconography of Han is noticeable in architecture of the Chinese Pagoda. The
image of the Shakyamuni Buddha in the abhaya mudra is also noticeable in some Chinese
pagodas. Buddhist iconography is also inside of the symbolism in the pagoda. Some believed
they would influence the success of young students taking the examinations for a civil
service degree.[14] When a pagoda of Yihuang County in Fuzhou collapsed in 1210 during
the Song Dynasty, local inhabitants believed that the unfortunate event correlated with the
recent failure of many exam candidates in the prefectural examinations for official degrees,
the prerequisite for appointment in civil service. The pagoda was rebuilt in 1223 and had a
list inscribed on it of the recently successful examination candidates, in hopes that it would
reverse the trend and win the county supernatural favor.
The image of Gautama Buddha in the abhaya mudrā is also noticeable in some Pagodas.
Buddhist iconography can be observed throughout the pagoda symbolism. [16] In an article on
Buddhist elements in Han dynasty art, Wu Hung suggests that in these tombs, Buddhist
symbolism was so well-incorporated into native Chinese traditions that a unique system of
symbolism had been developed.

ARCHITECTURE
Pagodas come in many different sizes,[18] with taller ones often attracting lightning strikes.
While this has inspired tradition that the finial decorating the top of the structure can seize
demons, the historically frequent damage has often motivated the modern addition of
conductive wires connecting the finial to the earth, allowing it to function as a true lightning
conductor.
Wooden pagodas possess certain characteristics which are thought to help them survive
earthquakes. These include the friction damping and sliding effect related to the complex
wooden dougong joints,[21] the structural isolation of floors, the effects of deep eaves
analogous to a balancing toy, and the Shinbashira phenomenon that the center column is
bolted to the rest of the superstructure
Pagodas traditionally have an odd number of levels, a notable exception being the eighteenth-
century pagoda designed by Sir William Chambers at Kew Gardens in London.
The pagodas in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia are very different from Chinese and
Japanese pagodas. Pagodas in these countries are derived from Dravidian architecture.
Wood- Construction Material: pagodas were mostly built of wood, as were other ancient
Chinese structures. Wooden pagodas are resistant to earthquakes, and no Japanese pagoda has
been destroyed by an earthquake.[22] Many have burnt down, and wood is also prone to both
natural rot and insect infestation.
Examples of wooden pagodas:

4
 White Horse Pagoda at White Horse Temple, Luoyang.
 Futuci Pagoda in Xuzhou, built in the Three Kingdoms period (c. 220–265).
 Many of the pagodas in Stories About Buddhist Temples in Luoyang, a Northern Wei text,
were wooden.
The literature of subsequent eras also provides evidence of the domination of wooden pagoda
construction in this period. The famous Tang Dynasty poet, Du Mu, once wrote:
480 Buddhist temples of the Southern Dynasties,
uncountable towers and pagodas stand in the misty rain.
The oldest extant fully wooden pagoda standing in China today is the Pagoda of Fugong
Temple in Ying County, Shanxi Province, built in the 11th century during the Song
Dynasty/Liao Dynasty (refer to Architecture section in Song Dynasty).
Transition to brick and stone
During the Northern Wei and Sui dynasties (386–618) experiments began with the
construction of brick and stone pagodas. Even at the end of the Sui, however, wood was still
the most common material. For example, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty (reigned 581–
604) once issued a decree for all counties and prefectures to build pagodas to a set of standard
designs, however since they were all built of wood none have survived. Only the Songyue
Pagoda has survived, a circular-based pagoda built out of stone in 523 AD.
Brick
The earliest extant brick pagoda is the 40-metre-tall Songyue Pagoda in Dengfeng
Country, Henan.[24] This curved, circle-based pagoda was built in 523 during the Northern
Wei Dynasty, and has survived for 15 centuries.[24] Much like the later pagodas found during
the following Tang Dynasty, this temple featured tiers of eaves encircling its frame, as well
as a spire crowning the top. Its walls are 2.5 m thick, with a ground floor diameter of 10.6 m.
Another early brick pagoda is the Sui Dynasty Guoqing Pagoda built in 597.
Stone
The earliest large-scale stone pagoda is a Four Gates Pagoda at Licheng, Shandong, built in
611 during the Sui Dynasty. Like the Songyue Pagoda, it also features a spire at its top, and is
built in the pavilion style.
Brick and stone
One of the earliest brick and stone pagodas was a three-storey construction built in the
(first) Jin Dynasty (266–420), by Wang Jun of Xiangyang. However, it is now destroyed.
Brick and stone went on to dominate Tang, Song, Liao and Jin Dynasty pagoda construction.
An example is the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda (652 AD), built during the early Tang Dynasty.
The Porcelain Pagoda of Nanjing has been one of the most famous brick and stone pagoda in
China throughout history. The Zhou dynasty started making the ancient pagodas about 3,500
years ago.
Pagodas, in keeping with the tradition of the White Horse Temple, were generally placed in
the center of temples until the Sui and Tang dynasties. During the Tang, the importance of the
main hall was elevated and the pagoda was moved beside the hall, or out of the temple
compound altogether. In the early Tang, Daoxuan wrote a Standard Design for Buddhist
Temple Construction in which the main hall replaced the pagoda as the center of the temple.

5
The design of temples was also influenced by the use of traditional Chinese residences as
shrines, after they were philanthropically donated by the wealthy or the pious. In such pre-
configured spaces, building a central pagoda might not have been either desirable or possible.
In the Song Dynasty (960–1279), the Chan (Zen) sect developed a new 'seven part structure'
for temples. The seven parts—the Buddha hall, dharma hall, monks' quarters, depository,
gate, pure land hall and toilet facilities—completely exclude pagodas, and can be seen to
represent the final triumph of the traditional Chinese palace/courtyard system over the
original central-pagoda tradition established 1000 years earlier by the White Horse Temple in
67. Although they were built outside of the main temple itself, large pagodas in the tradition
of the past were still built. This includes the two Ming Dynasty pagodas of Famen Temple
and the Chongwen Pagoda in Jingyang of Shaanxi Province.
A prominent, later example of converting a palace to a temple is Beijing's Yonghe Temple,
which was the residence of Yongzheng Emperor before he ascended the throne. It was
donated for use as a lamasery after his death in 1735.

STYLES
Han Dynasty
Examples of Han Dynasty era tower architecture predating Buddhist influence and the full-
fledged Chinese pagoda can be seen in the four pictures below. Michael Loewe writes that
during the Han Dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) period, multi-storied towers were erected for
religious purposes, as astronomical observatories, as watchtowers, or as ornate buildings that
were believed to attract the favor of spirits, deities, and immortals.
Sacred Stupas and Precious Pagodas: The Many Roles of Reliquaries in the Buddhist
Landscape

By Meher McArthur- Buddhistdoor Global | 2016-01-22 |

6
 The Great
Stupa at Sanchi, India. 3rd century BCE–1st century CE. Photo by Nagarjun. From
wikimedia.org
One of the most fascinating examples of Buddhist architecture is the stupa, a structure that
evolved from a simple burial mound into the large-scale domed structures of the Himalayas
and Southeast Asia and the elegant multi-tiered pagodas of East Asia. Both stupas and
pagodas are essentially containers for relics of the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, or other
Buddhist teachers or saints, but over the centuries, as the Buddha’s followers spread his
teachings throughout Asia, they constructed such monuments in various materials, sizes, and
styles, to contain texts and other sacred items as well as relics. These sacred structures have
played a variety of roles—spiritual, political, and artistic: as a central focus for Buddhist
devotion, as a tool for Buddhist rulers to unite their subjects, and as an architectural
expression of belief in the Buddhist teachings.
The earliest stupas (a Sanskrit word meaning “a heap”) were ancient Indian burial mounds
that marked the graves of religious or political leaders and reminded the living of their power.
After Shakyamuni’s death, these mounds were incorporated into Buddhist practice as
containers of his relics and those of later Buddhist teachers. The relics were placed in the
center of the mound and a pole was passed through the middle of the structure linking the
relics with the stupa’s top, which created an axis mundi symbolically connecting the mundane
and the supramundane. In many stupas, the top of the pillar rises up from the dome and is
topped by three circular disks known as chattra (Sanskrit for “umbrella” or “parasol”), which
represent the Three Jewels (Skt: triratna): the Buddha, Dharma (teachings), and sangha

7
(monastic order). The dome is frequently constructed on a platform, often square, while
around the base is a walkway, which may be surrounded by gates. Typically, followers pass
through the eastern gate and circumambulate the dome in a clockwise direction, in an act of
walking meditation.
One of the most ancient and important stupas is the Great Stupa at Sanchi. Located in north-
central India, this stupa is believed to contain relics of the historical Buddha and was
originally constructed by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka, who ruled a large part of India in the
3rd century BCE. After a particularly bloody battle, he renounced violence, converted to
Buddhism, and attempted to unite his empire under the Buddhist Law. He had stone pillars
inscribed with edicts proclaiming the virtues of Buddhism erected throughout his empire as a
means of spreading the faith among his subjects. He also opened up eight Buddhist stupas
containing relics believed to be from the Buddha and distributed them among the 84,000
stupas that he ordered to be constructed around India, thus providing many focal points of
devotion for an expanding population of Buddhist followers. The Great Stupa at Sanchi is
one of the few surviving monuments from this endeavor, and is still venerated as a sacred site
today. In the following centuries, the stupa was renovated and enlarged, and in the 1st century
CE, four stone gates (Skt. torana) were erected around the structure and embellished with
ornate Buddhist imagery. On the south gate is an image of devotees praying in front of a
stupa—an early artistic testimony to the spiritual power attributed to the structure itself.

Boudhana
th Stupa, Kathmandu, Nepal. Circa 7th century. Image by biranbag/flickr. From sacred-
destinations.com
Similar domed structures were erected later at many other important Buddhist sites in Asia
and were influenced by local architectural styles and traditions. In the Himalayan region, one
of the most spectacular examples is the Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal. Built in the
middle of the first millennium CE, it is said to enshrine the remains of the Buddha Kashyapa,
who preceded Shakyamuni, the Buddha of our age. This massive stupa, which was damaged

8
during the 2015 Nepal earthquakes, is renowned for its whitewashed dome, the gilded
structure that rises up from the dome, and the large pairs of eyes that gaze outwards in the
four cardinal directions, offering protection.
In Southeast Asia, stupas (here, as in East Asia, often referred to as pagodas) have largely
retained their original spherical form, though in Thailand and Myanmar the round section of
many of these structures has become more slender and is often covered in gold. The colossal
Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon is the most sacred stupa in Myanmar and is said to house the
relics of the four previous Buddhas of our age. The structure features a bulbous, bell-like
form built on a stone base and is entirely covered in gold plate and crowned with diamonds
and rubies; it is a prime example of the influence of regional artistic styles on the architecture
of these sacred structures.

Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar. Originally constructed circa 6th

century, repaired most recently late 20th century. From wikipedia.org
In East Asia, the stupa underwent a fascinating transformation, evolving into the structure we
know as the typical pagoda. Largely unrecognizable as stupas, these wood, brick, or stone
monuments similarly house relics and have a pole connecting them to the top. While the
“umbrella” disks are still present at the very top of the pagoda, in most cases the round
section of the original stupa form has disappeared. Around the middle of the first millennium
CE, under the influence of Chinese tower and pavilion architecture, the stupa stretched
upward and took the form of a multi-storied tower, the levels (typically 3, 5 or 7) echoing the
series of small circular “umbrella” disks that crown the traditional form.

9
 Pagoda at Horyu-ji, Japan. 7th century. From wikimedia.org

The evolved form is exemplified by the five-storied pagoda at the temple Horyu-ji near Nara
in Japan. One of the world’s oldest surviving wooden structures, this 7th century tower is
believed to contain a fragment of a bone of the historical Buddha, and was the principal
building in the original temple complex. Enshrining Buddhist relics, this and other pagodas
throughout East Asia were for centuries the main focus of devotion, with practitioners
circumambulating the buildings and the relics inside. Later, the halls containing Buddhist
statues became the primary focus for practice, and within most temple complexes, the
pagodas became secondary buildings. Nonetheless, they are often the most eye-catching
structures on the temple grounds. Today, the elegant pagodas of Horyu-ji and the later
Kiyomizu temple in Kyoto, with their layered wood roofs ascending in stages towards the
sky, evoke a connection with the spiritual and a reverence for the ancient teachers whose
relics are housed within.

10
Three-storied pagoda at Kiyomizu temple, Kyoto, Japan. Image courtesy of the author
https://www.buddhistdoor.net/features/sacred-stupas-and-precious-pagodas-the-many-roles-
of-reliquaries-in-the-buddhist-landscape

11