Symbolism of Buddhism: Dagobas in Sri Lanka

Thought a simple view to the different cultures populating the contemporary world we can highlight some processes and architectural elements reworked in different ways. The purpose of this paper is to focus on similarities and differences between architectural types and domes in various cultures, between East and West, from symbolic, formal, geometrical, material, structural standpoint. The domes are architectural structures present in every age and country of the world, they represent meanings and characteristic goals of the local culture. Sometimes the related terminology changes according to the historical and geographical context. From long time our research group deepens studies about domes in different cultures with great attention to the territory of Mediterranean Sea, in particular to Islamic domes. Some recent studies have broadened the horizons of analysis to include Russia and India. Not all the domes respect the common design canons typical of our traditional Western conception: an example are the Dagobas in Sri Lanka.