History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v2.c33.s2.1

v2.c33.s2.1

The term Pagoda (in Burmese, Payâ) seems to be applied by Europeans in Burma indifferently to two very different kinds of structure. Firstly: a bell-shaped stûpa raised on a series of terraces or platforms and crowned with a conical finial. To these the term *tsedi* or *zedi*, which corresponds with the Chaitya in Nepâl and the Chedi of Siam, is sometimes given. They consist of solid masses of brickwork, with a small sealed-up chamber in the basement containing supposed relics of Buddha. Secondly: a temple which is square on plan with sometimes projecting porches or vestibules and, in the thickness of the walls, narrow corridors, the walls of which are decorated with frescoes or sculpture, with niches at intervals containing images of Buddha. Their roofs are pyramidal, consisting of a series of storeys of moderate height set back one behind the other and crowned with the curvilinear sikhara of the Indo-Aryan style.