The cone-shaped pagoda invariably rests on a quadrangular basis a few feet high. The body of the cone in its lower part is an hexagon or octagon, broad at first, then gradually and regularly decreasing to two-thirds of its height. Upon it rises the regular cone, which ends in a point covered with the gilt umbrella. The architectural ornaments of such structures are circular, bold and round lines or mouldings; above this, to the place where the cone begins, are sculptures, representing leaves shooting from the middle part, one half upwards and the other half downwards. That part is often divested of such ornaments, as is the case with the Shoaydagon. On the sides of the cone are horizontal lines grouped together; each group is separated by a considerable distance, then comes a sculptured foliage, different from the one already mentioned, but disposed in a like manner. In the middle of the four sides of the base, particularly in the one facing the East, the Burmese have introduced the practice of making small niches for receiving the statues representing Buddha in a cross-legged position. A portico leads to them. On the four angles of the base they likewise place griffins or sometimes fantastic figures of monsters. Small dzedis are often disposed on the lower parts of the hexagon or octagon. This kind of pagoda being naturally destitute of all ornaments, and standing over a tomb or a shrine, as a pillar that has gradually assumed the shape above described, is a very ancient one, and probably coeval with the earliest Buddhist religious monuments.