Jonathan Cohen's photos with the keyword: pagoda

The Pagoda measures five stories. This attraction once graced the 1915 Japanese exhibit at the Panama-Pacific Exposition. Pagodas hold a special place in Far East culture, as they serve as Buddhist shrines. The nine rings on this particular example symbolize the different heavens of the gods.

The Strolling Pond Garden is the largest and contains multiple areas. In one, rocks built into the path are arranged as the Big Dipper constellation. There is a 100 year-old five-tiered pagoda lantern, a gift from Portland's sister city of Sapporo with ornamental rocks forming the shape of Hokkaido island and a red stone for Sapporo. Several ornate or whimsical bridges cross the creeks between ponds. There is also a handmade moon bridge.

The pagoda structure derives from that of the stupa, a hemispherical, domed, commemorative monument first constructed in ancient India. Stupas appeared in China with the import of Buddhism and, during a long history of well over a thousand years, have become a valued part of the national Buddhist art. At the beginning, the stupa was a reliquary for keeping the relics or ashes of a saintly Buddhist. It is said that bead-like crystals of white or some other colour were often found among the ashes after cremation, and they are called shelizi or "holy relics". Buddhists believe that when Sakyamuni, founder of the faith, was cremated, 84,000 beads of holy relics were found. They were shared among the kings of eight nations, who built stupas to house them for worship. This was generally thought to be the origin of stupas or pogadas. Subsequently they were built not only to bury the relics or ashes of venerable monks but also to safekeep holy scriptures and various ritual implements. They are therefore also called fota (Buddha’s pagodas) or baota (treasure pagodas) and are objects of homage. A Chinese proverb says, "To save a life is a holier deed than to build a stupa of seven stories." Pagodas are mostly of seven or thirteen stories. This is because odd numbers were supposed to be masculine and auspicious in China, but this has nothing to do with the teachings of Buddhism. With the growth and development of commerce and mercantile interests, by both land and sea, came the spread of Buddhist missions as well. There followed a process known to scholars as the Indianization of other regions of Asia. As the structures and practices of Buddhism came to dominate these areas, so too were these features absorbed into the various cultures they influenced. Particular styles become typical to a region. In Japan, for example, the five-story pagoda is common, with each story representing one of the five elements: earth, water, fire, wind, and void (sky, heaven). The finial is also divided into five parts. The shape of the stories varies; they can be circular, square, or polygonal. Each story in an East Asian pagoda has its own prominent projecting bracketed roof line, and the whole structure is capped by a mast and disks. In general, the pagoda form is intended primarily as a monument, and often it has very little usable interior space.

The Pacific Bell is housed in a traditional Japanese bell tower crafted of yellow cedar. Yellow cedar is similar to Japanese hinoki, traditionally used in the construction of temples and bell towers. Pre-fabricated in Japan and re-assembled at UBC, the tower – with the exception of the eaves and the roof – is held together without a single nail. A ceramic tile roof was chosen over wooden shingles for reasons of resonance. The significance of the bell tower lies in the bell itself. In ancient times, the bell was used to sound the hours of the day. In Buddhist temples, the fading sounds of the bell serve to remind one of the transitory nature of life. The ringing of the bell on New Year’s Eve also has a special significance. As the late Dr. Shotaro Iida, a UBC professor of religious studies explained: "In Buddhist philosophy, there are 108 mental defilements. It is believed that by ringing the bell 108 times on New Year’s Eve – 54 times before midnight, 54 times after – one can erase the past mental impurities and start the year new."

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC