Buddhist architecture

A pagoda is a tiered tower with multiple eaves, common across Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist, but sometimes Taoist or Hindu, and were often in or near viharas. The pagoda traces its origins to the stupa, while its design was developed in ancient India. Chinese pagodas () are a traditional part of Chinese architecture. In addition to religious use, since ancient times Chinese pagodas have been valued for the spectacular views they offer, and many classical poems attest to the joy of scaling pagodas.

In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and śarīra—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and meditation.

thumb|Mahabodhi Temple in India. Vihāra generally refers to a Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery for Buddhist renunciates, mostly in the Indian subcontinent. The concept is ancient and in early Pali texts, it meant any arrangement of space or facilities for dwellings. The term evolved into an architectural concept wherein it refers to living quarters for monks with an open shared space or courtyard, particularly in Buddhism. The term is also found in Jain monastic literature, usually referring to temporary refuge for wandering monks or nuns during the annual Indian monsoons. In modern Jaini

The Bayon (, ; BAI-on) is a richly decorated Theravada Buddhist temple of the Khmer Empire located at Angkor in Cambodia. Built in the late 12th or early 13th century as the state temple of King Jayavarman VII (), it stands at the centre of Jayavarman’s capital city, Angkor Thom (). The Bayon reflects the strong Buddhist orientation of Jayavarman VII’s reign. Originally conceived as a Mahayana Buddhist monument centered on the cult of the Bodhisattva of compassion, the temple later adapted to the spread of Theravada Buddhism in Cambodia. Its iconography, spatial organization, and emphasis on c

series of columns in the Indian subcontinent, inscribed with edicts by Mauryan king Ashoka

A wat is a type of Buddhist and Hindu temple in Cambodia, Laos, East Shan State (Myanmar), Yunnan (China), the Southern Province of Sri Lanka, and Thailand.

place of worship for Buddhists

cave in People's Republic of China

Vikramashila (IAST: ) was a Buddhist monastic university situated in what is now modern-day Bihar in India. It was founded by King Dharmapala between the late eighth and early ninth century.

thumb|An early chaitya at Bhaja Caves; wooden architecture imitated in stone, with decorative roof timbers in wood. 2nd century BCE. thumb|Outside the chaitya at Cave 19, Ajanta Caves, also with four zones using small repeated "chaitya arch" motifs. thumb|Development of the chaitya arch from the Lomas Rishi Cave on, from a book by Percy Brown. A chaitya, chaitya hall, chaitya-griha, (Sanskrit:Caitya; Pāli: Cetiya) refers to a shrine, sanctuary, temple or prayer hall in Indian religions. The term is most common in Buddhism, where it refers to a space with a stupa and a rounded apse at the end o

ancient Buddhist temple at Lumbini, Nepal

A torana (tawr-uh-nuh) is a free-standing ornamental or arched gateway for ceremonial purposes in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain architecture of the Indian subcontinent. Toranas can also be widely seen in East Asia and parts of Southeast Asia. Chinese Shanmen gateways, Japanese torii gateways, Korean Iljumun and Hongsalmun gateways, Vietnamese Tam quan gateways, and Thai Sao Ching Cha may have derived from the Indian torana. They are also referred to as vandanamalikas.

Bharhut is a village in the Satna district of Madhya Pradesh, central India. It is known for a Buddhist stupa, unique in that each panel is explicitly labelled in Brahmi characters saying what the panel depicts. The major donor for the Bharhut stupa was King Dhanabhuti.

two wrathful and muscular guardians of the Buddha standing at the entrance of Buddhist temples in East Asian Buddhism

thumb|260px|A pair of komainu, the "a" on the right, the "um" on the left

type of Buddhist building

park in Pattaya, Thailand

temple tower in Thailand

style of building

the first hall inside shanmen in Chinese Buddhist temples, which enshrines Four Heavenly Kings, Maitreya Buddha, Skanda

Carved semicircular stone slab in Sinhalese architecture of ancient Sri Lanka

main hall of a buddhist temple in China, Korea or Vietnam

Commemorative throne where the Buddha awoke into enlightenment; founding cite of Buddhism

traditional motif showing three hares sharing ears

construction

art and architecture of Buddhist temples in Thailand

thumb|right|The earliest surviving chaitya arch, at the entrance to the Lomas Rishi Cave, 3rd century BC In Indian architecture, gavaksha or chandrashala (kudu in Tamil, also nāsī) are the terms most often used to describe the motif centred on an ogee, circular or horseshoe arch that decorates many examples of Indian rock-cut architecture and later Indian structural temples and other buildings. In its original form, the arch is shaped like the cross-section of a barrel vault. It is called a chaitya arch when used on the facade of a chaitya hall, around the single large window. In later forms i

The Gate of Shanmen or Hall of the Shanmen or simply Shanmen (), is the entrance gate of a Buddhist temple. In ancient times, nearly all Buddhist temples had a single Shanmen gate leading into a large hall for the temple. Today, it is observed that most of the surviving Chinese Buddhist temples follow the hall style but have three main gates incorporated into their construction. After successive wars and cultural discontinuity, most Chan Buddhist temples have changed the middle gate into a hall entrance, called "Hall of Shanmen". The Shanmen is the most important gate of a Chan Buddhist temple

thumb|An entrance of the Polonnaruwa Vatadage. A vaṭadāge () is a type of Buddhist structure found in Sri Lanka. It also known as a dage, thupagara and a cetiyagara. Although it may have had some Indian influence, it is a structure that is more or less unique to the architecture of ancient Sri Lanka. Vatadages were built around small stupas for their protection, which often enshrined a relic or were built on hallowed ground. Circular in shape, they were commonly built of stone and brick and adorned with elaborate stone carvings. Vatadages may have also had a wooden roof, supported by a number

Hindu temple in Cambodia

Mahavihara () is the Sanskrit and Pali term for a great vihara (centre of learning or Buddhist monastery) and is used to describe a monastic complex of viharas.

an building in Chinese Buddhist temples, which is the place for senior monks to preach

Buddhist pillars engraved with dharani sutras

annex halls in Chinese Buddhist temples for enshrining masters of various Buddhism schools