The Five-pagoda Temple was originally known as Cideng Temple, and its formal name is the Jingang-based Dagoba (Jingang in Sanskrit means solid). The five pagodas built on the Jingang base symbolize Buddhas from five directions and adopt the style of the Indian Buddha Gaya Temple. The Jingang-based Dagoba, erected between 1727 and 1732 in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), is among the early of its kind in China.

The entire dagoba comprises a foundation, a Jingang base and five pagodas. It is 16.5 meters high and assumes the shape of the Chinese character, . A horizontal tablet of white marble is embedded above its arch door with dagoda's name carved in Mongolian, Tibetan and Chinese characters. The body is engraved with various patterns, including the Buddha, Bodhisattva, Buddhist sacred places, gathering clouds, a pipal tree, a gilded copper vajra, four gods, the five-Buddha seat, and 1,119 small gilded Buddha in various postures. Through the arched door and up the spiraling steps is the platform of the Jingang base. A square, color-glazed pavilion stands at the exit. The five exquisite pagodas are located next to the pavilion. The highest one, at 87 meters, sits in the middle, while the other four standing at the four corners are much lower. The pagodas all have multi-layered eaves with green, glazed cantilever stones. On the first floor, the front side is carved with patterns of one Buddha, two Bodhisattvas, pipal trees and gathering clouds. Three, round, carved stones -- an astronomical chart with Mongolian characters, a distribution map of Sumeru Mountain and murals on the eternal cycle of birth and death -- are embedded in the gable walls at the back of the foundation. Among them the astronomical chart is of greatest value.

This astronomical chart was assembled with eight white marbles. Its diameter reaches 1.44 meters; its inner circle, 18.3 centimeters; the equator, 51.4 centimeters; and the ecliptic, 73 to 76 centimeters. Using the North Pole as the center, the chart has 28 longitudinal lines where the 28 constellations, together with five concentric circles expressing the Arctic Circle, the Antarctic Circle, the Summer Solstice Circle, the Winter Solstice Circle and the Equator respectively, are marked. Moreover, the chart also includes the 12 signs, the 12 animals that represent the 12 Earthly Branches and the 24 solar terms. It is the only existing ancient star chart labeled in Mongolian characters, providing important insight into the study of ancient Chinese astronomy.