Pagoda is the architectural "music" of Buddhism

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:40

Reverent admiration, pleasing and amazing, arises when contemplating and visiting places of worship that are quite common in China and Japan, India and Vietnam, Cambodia and Korea, Thailand and other countries that preach Buddhism.

Miraculous Properties

Pagoda is a multi-tiered temple tower (obelisk, pavilion) with numerous bright decorations and cornices. Initially, it served as a memorial, preserving numerous relics - the remains of Buddhas and the ashes of monks. The construction of the very first pagodas dates back to the beginning of our era.

Appearing in China, they have spread widely throughout Southeast Asia and the Far East. According to ancient Chinese legends, pagodas were intended to heal people from diseases, to comprehend the truth in the process of meditation, and also to gain the ability to become invisible to enemies. However, too many bad human deeds led to the fact that these structures began to "hide" their miraculous power.

Mysterious treasures

The meaning of the word "pagoda" in literal translation from Portuguese (pagoda) and Sanskrit ("bhagavat") - "treasure tower". Most of the monastic buildings have retained their original purpose, but access for travelers to the existing monasteries is limited. Park buildings play a rather symbolic role, attracting many tourists with their unique interior decoration and the opportunity to view the surroundings from a height of any tier. But ritual ceremonies and truly sacred objects cannot be seen in them.

The brilliant splendor of sacred structures, perfectly combined with noble tranquility, resembles, and often is, palace complexes. The Imperial Pagoda is a building stylized with particular pomp and majesty, covered with yellow tiles, the color of which symbolized the supreme power.

Architectural delights

Chinese builders erected structures according to original technology based on a wooden frame structure “dougong”, which means “bucket and beam”. Not a single iron nail was used in the construction of such houses. Having arranged the pillars in a certain order and fastened them with crossbars, the Chinese installed a frame, which was subsequently covered with a roof of heavy tiles. But the most interesting thing: to ease the pressure on the pillars, the Chinese built truncated pyramids from wooden bars, the wide bases of which abutted against the upper ceiling, and the tops against the pillar. As a result, the entire load falls on these bars, which differed in size and shape andcalled "dou" - "bucket", respectively, "gun" - "beam".

Thus, the pagoda is an amazing structure in which the walls do not carry any load. They serve as partitions and allow you to install windows and doors in any number.

Intricate Features

The earliest Chinese pagodas were built in the shape of a square, while later buildings became six-, eight- and twelve-sided, some round. You can find wooden and stone buildings, but poured bricks, iron and copper were used quite often. The number of levels in ancient Chinese pagodas is usually odd, with 5-13 levels being the most common. The imagination of architects erected graceful buildings that miraculously fit into the surrounding natural space and form a unique architectural ensemble. Traditionally, such buildings were built in mountainous areas, away from the noisy central regions of China.

Pagoda in Shanxi province, palace buildings

Of particular interest is the exclusivity of the 9-tier pagoda (its height is 70 meters) in Shanxi province, built about a millennium ago. This is the oldest wooden building in the world that has survived to this day. Moreover, the uniqueness of the anti-seismic design saved it from numerous destructive earthquakes.

Chinese pagodas in the style of palace buildings emphasize the greatness of the emperor. Graceful, curved roofs, decorated with figures of birds and animals, serve to drain rainwater.away from the base of the building. This allows you to keep wooden walls from moisture, making these structures more durable.

Japanese pagoda - Buddha music

Creating an atmosphere of spirituality, it is customary in the Japanese garden to erect Buddhist temples on hills, natural or artificial. Traditionally, when arranging a garden, a gate is first installed, and then a Japanese pagoda, which is the central compositional object.

The height of the structure is not limited by anything, except … stone lanterns, which should be 1.5-2 times lower than the pagoda. In the land of the rising sun, they can be quite small (up to 1 meter), located in a miniature garden. And this means that there are no stone lanterns in the visibility zone at all. According to the classical canons, a pagoda is a building consisting of individual stones and forming a square at the base. Its vertical section is a trapezoid with curved sides. The most interesting thing is that the stones in the Japanese pagoda are not fixed to each other, and the building is supported by their own weight. Therefore, careful calculation and accuracy are very important during its construction.

Against the backdrop of magnificent landscapes, multi-tiered pagodas, differing in shapes, heights and bright colors, reign in a peaceful and spiritual atmosphere. They invariably attract attention and excite the imagination of a person.