Seems that I love to visit temples and pagodas, especially where Buddha is. Actually in every Buddhist or Taoist temple he is. As I reside in Malaysia for some time, and tend to visit Buddhist temples more than Hindus. It happened somehow naturally, and the reason is that I like the atmosphere, environment there. After my trip to Vietnam where temples and pagodas are, it raised my curiosity what is the difference between temple and pagoda, recently.
After some research it comes as following:
Temple is for worshiping a real person, like a king, a queen, a national hero or some saints who are believed to help local people with some difficulty.
Pogoda is the place purely for Buddhism. That is where Buddhists go to pray and worship Buddha. It is also the place for monks to live and give Buddhism lessons to their followers.
You will also see a lot of people kneeing down and pray to their Buddha. Which doesn’t happen in a temple.
Pagoda, a tower like, multistory, solid or hollow structure made of stone, brick, or wood, usually associated with a Buddhist temple complex and therefore usually found in East and Southeast Asia, where Buddhism was long the prevailing religion. It is a tiered tower with multiple eaves, built in traditions originating as stupa in historic South Asia and further developed in East Asia or with respect to those traditions, common to Nepal, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Myanmar, India, Sri Lanka and other parts of Asia.
A Buddhist temple is the place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism represent the pure land or pure environment of a Buddha. Traditional Buddhist temples are designed to inspire inner and outer peace. Its structure and architecture varies from region to region. Usually, the temple consists not only of its buildings, but also the surrounding environment. The Buddhist temples are designed to symbolize 5 elements: Fire, Air, Earth, Water, and Wisdom
People go to temples to show their respect to people being worshiped inside. Meanwhile people go to pagodas to pray to Buddha.
No matter where you visit temples and pagodas, respect the culture:
• Remove your shoes when required. Most of pagodas and temples will ask visitors to walk bare feet inside the buildings.
• Walk into the temples and pagodas by the gate on the right hand. Walk out by the gate on the left. The gate in the middle is only for important ones like abbot or head of pagoda/ temple.
• Never point at the statues on the altars.
• Respect the locals who are praying by stay silent and don’t move around too much to disturb their pray. Don’t block the view between the prayers and the altars.
• Sometimes it is not nice to take photo of the statues and people who are praying. Check with you guides to see if it is ok to take photo.
• Dress modestly. Never wear too short that show your knees and shoulders. Your chest should also be well covered.
• Never make physically contact to monks, like offer him a handshake.
• Don’t touch anything, especially the statues.
• You don’t have to donate anything or pray when in temples and pagodas. Just be a visitor since it is not your religion.
• Put your two palms together in a shape of a lotus flower when praying or talking to a monk.
Interacting With Buddhist Monks
Monks are some of the friendliest people you will meet during your travels. The monks that you see sweeping the temple stairs may be less concerned about dirt and more interested in removing the insects so that no one accidentally steps on one!
Eating: Monks do not eat after noon; be mindful about eating or snacking around them.
Body language: If a monk is sitting, show respect by sitting before starting a conversation. Avoid sitting higher than a monk if you can help it. Never point your feet at any Buddhist while sitting.
Right hand only: Only use your right hand when giving or receiving something from a monk.
Advice for women: With apologies to women, gender roles are far more rigid in Southeast Asia's Buddhist cultures. In these parts, women should never touch or hand a monk something. Even accidentally brushing against their robes requires that they fast and perform a cleansing ritual.
My picture from Vietnam and Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur and Melacca)
Information collected from Pham Tuyen , tripsavvy.com