Architecture of Buddhist Structures

Buddhist Stupa in Myanmar 

There are essentially three kinds of Buddhist Structures: 

1: Stupas which are bell-shaped structures that contain a holy relic or scripture 

2: Temples which are places of worship somewhat similar to a church 

3: Monasteries which contain living and meditation quarters for monks.

The local temples are usually self-sufficient and rely on support from the community to keep going. The property belongs to the community and there is not a hierarchy of priests, bishops, and archbishops like there is in Christianity. 

Mui Fat Buddhist Monastery 

The word for temple in many languages is a cave. Many early Buddhist temples were in a sense "artificial caves" that wanted to recreate the atmosphere of Buddhist caves in northern India. The architecture of Buddhist temples is influenced by the country in which they are found. Japanese pagodas have unique Japanese features that are modeled after Chinese-style pagodas. Because of the ancient wood temples being destroyed by fire, temples are now made of brick and stone. Many of the temples are located in the forests and mountains. There are two reasons for this: First, mountains and forest have always associated with spiritual purity and seconds Buddhist monks were often persecuted so this location gave them a good amount of safety.  

Temple in Ivolginsky Datsan, Siberia