JAPANESE PAGODA

The concept of pagoda originated in India. It is influenced by Chinese features average of Japanese pagoda is at 3 to 15 storeys i.e. always in odd numbers. Japanese pagoda is constructed using stone building material, but in china and other places, timber, brick, and stone are used. its construction like Buddhist Architecture.

Two pagodas remain from the packche period. One is at ekson. Cholanam-do province on the site of Mirusksa,a temple believed to date from the regin of King Mu-wang,and other is a five-storey structure on the site of the Chongnimsa Temple in puyo,Ch’ungch’ ongnam-­do Province. The Miruksa Pagoda, the earliest known example min stone, is believed to have had seven or nine storeys though only parts of six now remain. Each component was hewn from a separate stone and fitted as though made of timber. The pagoda of chongnimsa emerged in the process of improving the constructional technique of the Miruksa Pagoda which had proved unsatisfactory. It became the prototype for the future Paekche pagodas with its ideal combination of a simple two –tierd foundation and elegent five-storey main body.

Dating from the same period is a pagoda on the site of Punchwansa Temple. It is made of stones cut to the size and shape of bricks and resembles a brick pagoda ;only three of the original nine storeys now remain .Stone beats are stationed at the four corners of its foundation and stone images of Vajradhara, guardian deities of the Temple ,at either side of the niches of the body of the Pagoda.

The central stone edifice of Shilla construction is Sokkuram, a man-made Grotto built in the middle of the eighth century. It comprises a rectangular antechamber and an arched rotunda,at the centre of which is a seated Buddha. The walls are covered with reliefs of Bodhisattvas and Buddhist guardians.

The development of Shilla pagoda through experiments based on the Miruksa Pagoda has been mentioned above.Most Shilla pagodas are three storey,the earliest being the twin pagodas on the site of Kamunsa Temple in Wolsong. Kyongsangbuk-do Province, but perhaps the finest is a three storey pagodas called Sokkat’ap at Pulguksa Temple in Kyongiu, which is supported on a square pedestal  with pillars carved upon it .Each storey and each roof is carved  from a single stone.

 There were also some interesting variations from the three-storey’s prototype, such as the Tabot’ap Pagoda in Pulguksa and the thirteen-storey stone pagoda of Chonghyesa Temple in Wolsong. The pagoda in Hwaomso Temple in kurye, Chollaanam-do Provine, also deserves special note for its pedestal which consists of four carved figures of crouching lions. Several five-story brick pagodas are dating from the unified Shilla period in the Andong region of Kyongsangbuk-do Province. 

Stupas to house the Sarria (the remains of very holy persons)and relics of high-ranking monks were an important part of Buddhist architecture. They are classified by shape.

Most Shilla stupas are octagonal in shape, the oldest being built for the High Priest, Yomgohwasang,  the body of the sputa is decorated with reliefs of lions,apsaras(heavenly beings)and four Buddhist guardian kings. The roof stone is carved to simulate the tiled roof of a wooden building with the tiles, rafters, and details faithfully rendered. Its decorative richness is surpassed only by the sputa of Zen MastersCh’olgam, erected, at the Ssangbongsa Temple Hwasun,

 The pagoda style developed in the unified Shilla period was continued in the Koryo period. The three-storey pagoda of Yon-goksa Temple in Kurye, Chollanam-do,is typical of Koryo pagodas built in the Shilla tradition. The use of Bodhisattava as decorative reliefs which had begun in Shilla period is also continued,for example on the three storey pagoda at Chunghung Sansong Fortress in Kwang-yang , Chollanam-do.

Some of the Paekche style also survived in the region that had been Paekche territory. The three storey pagoda in Changha-ri, puyo, though built during the koryo period, is identical in style and construction to the Chongnimsa Pagoda, Which is of Paekche construction.