Towerlike, multistoried structure of stone, brick, or wood, usually associated with a Buddhist temple complex and enshrining sacred relics.
The pagoda evolved from the Indian stupa . The pagoda's crowning ornament is bottle-shaped in Tibet and pyramidal or conical in Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. In China, Korea, and Japan, a pagoda is a tall tower repeating a basic story unit in diminishing proportions. The stories may be circular, square, or polygonal. The pagoda form is intended mainly as a monument and has very little usable interior space.