Pagoda

Pagoda, in the East, where the Buddhist religion is professed, a sacred tower built in several storeys, of which the number is always odd. Such towers were originally raised over a relic of Buddha or of a Buddhist saint. They are generally more or less pyramidal, as is the famous Great Pagoda of Tanjore. The name is also applied to gold coins with a pagoda figured on the reverse, current in India from the 16th century, worth about 7s. Id.