Can you research and discuss some of the important features of a pagoda and perhaps a little bit about how they differ from one another in different areas of East Asia?

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Important features of Pagodas
Pagodas were tiered towers with eaves, built to serve religious functions. As the history points, pagodas were common in areas, such as Japan, Nepal, China, Korea, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia (Qi 28). They had tiered roofing; huge projecting roofs set upon each other. They were mainly square in plan and small in size from the bottom upwards. However, this shape varied across East Asia depending on preferences of different communities. As some were rectangular, others were circular and octagonal. Heejung also notes that pagodas in India were dome-shaped while those in Nepal were cone-shaped (p.252).
Pagodas had wooden struts which supported sloped roofs, overhanging from the inner walls. Pagodas also had lavishly draped wooden windows placed oddly at the end walls
Pagodas doors were either made of wood or metals plated with silver or gold to signify their importance. Doors to pagodas palaces and temples had extremely low heights (Heejung 253). People believed that Kings and gods were very powerful in the society, so everyone had to bow down at the entrance to their places.
At the topmost portion of the pagodas was the pinnacle, (also known as the gajur). The pinnacle was a mark of pride of the structure. Though nearly all pagodas in East Asia had pinnacles, their decoration and plating differed across the region. While the pinnacles of Nepalese pagodas were largely plated and made of copper and silver, pagodas in India and China were mainly plated with gold, brass, and iron.

Chinese iconography is a fundamental representation of the pagodas architecture. Be that as it may, one thing to note about pagodas is that they were largely attached to Buddhists temple complex, and according to Qi, that is why Buddhist iconography is prevalent in the pagoda symbolism (p.28).

Works CitedHeejung, Kang. “A Study of Korean Pagodas: Joseon Tappa ui yeon’gu by GO Yuseop.” International Journal of Buddhist Thought and Culture 27.2 (2017): 251-256.
Qi, Zheng. “Research on the Architectural Features of Ancient Pagodas in Shanghai [J].” South Architecture 5 (2009): 028.