Stupa

History, Form, and Symbolism

The Buddhist tradition holds that there were eight original stupas in India and Nepal that were commemorative of the Buddha's earthly activities and that housed his cremated physical remains. During the reign of King Asoka, however, it is said that the Buddha's relics were more widely dispersed throughout South Asia in 84,000 stupas. Early stupas—such as the circa third-century BCE stupa at Sanchi, India—were round and domed, constructed on an architectural floorplan of a wheel, while later stupas—such as the circa ninth-century CE stupa at Borobodur, Indonesia—followed the design of the mandala. The architectural features of later stupas directly influenced the East Asian pagoda.

Stupas have an elaborate symbolic structure. Their various steps, terraces, and spires represent different realms of existence, different Buddhist deities, and the various stages of the path to enlightenment. The form of the stupa is also a microcosmic representation of Mount Meru, the central structure of the Buddhist cosmos.

Sacred Space and Religious Practice

For Buddhist practitioners, the most significant aspect of the stupa is that it houses some sort of relics. The most valuable relics are of course those of the Buddha, but stupas also enshrine the physical remains or possessions of other important Buddhist figures, collections of scriptures, or religious paraphernalia that is no longer in use but requires special disposal. Making offerings to a stupa that houses the relics of the Buddha is tantamount to making an offering to the Buddha himself, as, according to the theory of the three Buddha bodies, the presence of the Buddha endures in his physical remains. Consequently, stupas produce a sacred space within which Buddhists engage in merit-making practices, primarily through the circumambulation of the stupa. Whether constructed alongside temples and monasteries or in the vicinity of sacred lakes and mountains, stupas are a ubiquitous feature of the Buddhist landscape.

Commissioning the construction of a stupa is also considered a meritorious action both for the sponsor and for those involved in its highly ritualized construction. As the Buddhist tradition was introduced throughout Central Asia in particular, the ritual construction of stupas became a means of demarcating the boundaries of Buddhism as well as of subjugating any potentially malevolent [Page 1227]local deities and enlisting their support of the Dharma.

...