Talk:Pagoda

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So, when were pagodas first built? How tall are they? How were they constructed? I think this article needs a lot more information...--Xiaphias 20:59, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

It was first built in Nepal by Araniko .

I've moved the previous image to Chiang Mai, as although it's a nice picture, it's not a great illustration of a pagoda as opposed to a stupa. Markalexander100 16:12, 14 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Pagoda (Band)

Pagoda is a band from New York featuring: Michael Pitt - Guitar/Vocals, Ryan Donowho - Drums, and Luca Amendolara. Pagoda founders Michael Pitt and Ryan Donowho met at a mutual friend’s house one day in 2001. Knowing that Mike was a musician, Ryan asked him to play one of his original songs. He did, and soon Ryan began playing drums on it, and a visible musical chemistry was apparent from the start. Though showing signs of promise, Mike had never taken guitar lessons in his life. His friend Rodrigo of the band The Hermitt, was the one who "kinda got me off the street--he invited me to crash in this one-bedroom apartment in Chinatown with, like, seven other people. And he taught me how to play guitar," Mike says. One of the first songs he wrote was "Death to Birth" which has since become Pagoda's most recognized song. Ryan on the other hand was a semi-well known bucket drummer on the streets of New York who attracted the attention of a casting agent looking for a fresh new face to model Levi 501’s in an ad campaign.

From 1939 to mid 1943, the band brought in several friends to fill in on bass during live shows. Among them was Christian Zucconi, front man for the band Aloke. During Zucconi's history with the band, he filmed a music video for "The Happy Song," a melodic and sarcastic song that would see the light of day further down the road.

Audiences got their first taste of Mike’s musical ability on the soundtrack to Bernardo Bertolucci’s film "The Dreamers," in which Mike also played the lead role of Matthew. Mike collaborated with the Twins of Evil on the Jimi Hendrix classic "Hey Joe" and Bertolucci also shot a video for it which is available on the DVD release of the film. The following year, Pagoda contributed their song "Muskrat" to the soundtrack for "The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things", Asia Argento's adaptation of JT LeRoy's confessional novel. Mike also had a role in the film playing "Buddy", an absent minded but good natured southerner. Soon the band began playing shows on a regular basis, a gig at The Sidewalk Café in New York City being their first. The set was so exciting and full of energy and potential that it prompted Spin magazine to include Pagoda on a list of Underground New York bands to watch.

While in Portland researching a role for Gus Van Sant's film "Last Days", Mike ran into Jamie Kallend in the park strumming his guitar. He asked to play, and Kallend was so impressed with Mike that he invited him to an open mic night that his band Kallisti was playing. Being mutually impressed with their talents, Kallend being the bass player for Kallisti at the time, a friendship was quickly formed. After the show, Mike offered to mix some of Kallisti's songs back in the hotel he was staying at and completed them before the next morning. As fate would have it, the two ran into each other again when Mike was back in town visiting Gus. A few weeks later, Kallend was offered the job of bassist for Pagoda and accepted.

Meanwhile, the band posted an ad near NYU that said "cellist wanted, please call," followed by a phone number. Their best offer came from Indigo Ruth Davis, a teenaged cellist from Vermont who was attending a Waldorf school that focused on students' artistic pursuits. In the studio, the first track Indigo was given to play on was "Sadartha." He aced it on his first try and was quickly added to the band’s line-up.

Now having a full band, Pagoda was ready to record their demo. It contained five songs which included "Death to Birth" and "Sadartha" along with "Fetus", "I Do" and a spoken word track titled " Song 1." It was recorded at Excello Recording Studio in Williamsburg Brooklyn and was given away at shows for free by Mike's agent. Those who attended Pagoda's earlier shows noticed a severe improvement in melody, song writing and vocal performance, each track better crafted and more focused than previous material. Gus Van Sant also noticed the improvement and featured two songs from the demo on the soundtrack for his film "Last Days."

Last Days" was inspired by the death of Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain. In the film, Mike plays the leading role of "Blake", an introspective artist who is battling a drug addiction and the pressures of fame. In one particular scene, Blake retreats from the party his friends are throwing in his living room and plays a solo acoustic version of "Death to Birth." While this is one of the most powerful scenes in the film, Mike was apprehensive about contributing his own material. "I'm a musician and I didn't want it to just seem like I was doing it for personal gain," he says. "I think we shot the scene about seven times and every time I made up a song on the spot. The last time he asked me to play that song." Mike also contributed the song "That Day" to the film, on which he played every instrument using a loop machine. The video for "The Happy Song" was also featured on the DVD release.

While in Milan, the band recorded their debut album "House of Worship" with co-producer Luca Amendolara. Among the new tracks is "Never Was" and "Gulp!", said to be some of the band’s best material so far.

In the months following the wrap up of the album, Jamie and Indigo left the band and Luca has since stepped in on bass. In January of 2006, the threesome launched a tour in support of "House of Worship" which will be released by Ecstatic Peace in June 2006.

Dead link

During several automated bot runs the following external link was found to be unavailable. Please check if the link is in fact down and fix or remove it in that case!

• • In Pagoda on Mon Jul 17 15:17:19 2006, 404 Not Found
  • In Pagoda on Thu Jul 27 00:43:36 2006, 404 Not Found

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maru (talk) contribs 04:43, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

Can't be...

The article presently states "It was spread to China and the Asian region by Araniko, a Nepali architect in the early 13th century for Kublai Khan." - and i've read the same in a number of sources.

However, this cannot be true because there are surviving pagodas in China dating from way before the 13th Century: the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, the Small Wild Goose Pagoda, Longhua pagoda, etc. --Sumple (Talk) 07:15, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

The section is still there, I propose to delete it if nobody can contribute a reliable source. Qtng (talk) 09:27, 16 February 2015 (UTC)

multiple eaves

What this article doesn't address is the reason for the repetition. What purpose does it serve to have a roof around every floor? --Aderack 06:50, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

At least some pagoda have a balcony at each level. Having a roof at each level provides protection from rain, sun, etc. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.242.21.48 (talk) 01:35, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

Pagoda in the United States

There is a Japanese-style pagoda in Reading, Pennsylvania---any interest in adding a link? See the "Reading, Pennsylvania" entry. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.242.21.48 (talk) 01:35, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

Petronas Twin Towers

In the Petronas Twin Towers article it says the structures were inspired by Muslim architecture. They don't look much like pagodas to me, perhaps we should remove the entry if there's no references. --Calibas (talk) 18:40, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

what muslim tower served as an inspiration for Petronas towers, clearly the official narrative wants to assert that petronas towers are islamic design inspired because malaysia asserts its islamic identity a lot, but a very basic search of angkor wat tower design would reveal that the design is basically pre islamic south east asian, which is itself based on indian tower designs which includes the pagodas. 60.52.45.174 (talk) 07:50, 23 November 2018 (UTC)

Skyscraper-pagodas

Are you sure if the Bombardier Pagoda is a skyscraper? Watching it, I don't think so. Ferike333 (talk) 13:26, 7 June 2009 (UTC)

Those aren't pagodas, right?

Multi-tiered European tower, in an European architectural style, with apparent multiple (but tiny) eaves.

Multiple tiers, multiple tiny eaves, somewhat Romanesque style.

The one on the right is generally categorized as a campanile in the European bell-tower tradition. 192.12.88.49 (talk) 20:09, 5 October 2012 (UTC)\\

The gopuram of a Hindu temple in southern India. This isn't a pagoda, either, right? Hmm. Could be. Pagoda coins were issued in southern India a few centuries ago, bearing the likeness of a pagoda.

After looking up dictionary definitions, I noticed that some dictionaries essentially defined pagodas as having to be in Asia to be pagodas, while others were more liberal geographically. The ones I agreed with most tried to cover multiple bases, defining pagodas as Buddhist temples in the form of many-tiered towers, as well as imitations of those towers. However, older dictionaries defined pagodas as being Hindu or Buddhist places of "idol worship", suggesting that the gopuram of a Hindu temple could, indeed, be considered a pagoda. In at least one old encyclopedia, the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica, a pagoda could be a "many-sided" tower or a pyramid, or, in Asian countries, any house of worship that was neither a church nor a mosque. The term was used primarily in Asia or with reference to Asia in those days, and South and East Asians probably knew little about synagogues, so it is unclear whether the term could apply to a Jewish congregation such as, say, that of the Kaifeng Jews. The most common online dictionary definitions suggest Asian "pyramidal" towers, a problematic definition because some Japanese pagodas don't really have a pyramidial appearance. Another common definition, mostly from older dictionaries: an idol, or place for idolatry. 192.12.88.49 (talk) 20:55, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

Wordnik probably has it right. 192.12.88.49 (talk) 20:55, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

Wordnik has it almost right. The definition is functional, not structural. The pagoda is an evolution of the stupa, and as such it used to be a reliquary, even though it has often lost this original purpose. --Frank (Urashima Tarō) (talk) 21:44, 6 October 2012 (UTC)

Global Pagoda

Someone please add the picture of the Global Pagoda at Gorai, Mumbai. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Amey ambade (talk • contribs) 09:38, 18 November 2012 (UTC)

India?

This page is very East- and less South Asian centered. Am I wrong in thinking Hindu temples in general in India are/were often referred to as pagodas? The British in India used the term liberally; I don't know if that reflected local practice or was a misnomer. And the pagoda was one of the denominations of money. I had always just assumed the the pagoda was another Indian export to south-east and east Asia. Perhaps the history sections could elaborate.... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.167.71.236 (talk) 11:30, 25 May 2013 (UTC)

Lightning rod

The article says that a metal finial at the top of a pagoda can function as a lightning rod. Unless the finial is connected to an electrical conductor that reaches to the ground, it cannot function as a lightning rod, except in the sense that it can attract lightning and _increase_ the chance of damage to the building. A grounded lightning rod conducts the charge through the conductor and not through the building. An ungrounded rod does nothing to protect the building, so I don't think a metal finial should be called a lightning rod, unless there is evidence that it is connected to a conductive path to ground outside the building. Mnudelman (talk) 18:54, 20 October 2013 (UTC)