Stupa

ஸ்தூபி - Stupa

A usually dome-shaped structure (such as a mound) serving as a Buddhist shrine.

The hemispherical or semi circular form of the stupa appears to have derived from pre-Buddhist burial mounds in India. Buddhist commemorative monument usually housing sacred relics associated with the Buddha or other saintly persons. Sacred structures such as stupas or statues have a circumambulation or Pradakshina path around them, because from the earliest times circling the stupa has been an important ritual for receiving their energy.

Sanchi stupa is one of the oldest stone structures in India; the stupa covering was built to shelter the remains of a Buddha. The stupa (a Sanskrit word meaning a heap) originated as a simple semi-circular mound of earth, later called the anda. Above the anda was the harmika (Balcony), that structure represented the abode of the gods. Arising from the harmika was a mast (flagpole) called the yastii(slim), often surmounted by a chhatri or umbrella. Around the mound was a railing (path), the gateways which were richly carved and installed at the four cardinal points. Worshippers entered through the eastern gateway and walked around the mound in a clockwise direction keeping the mound on the right, imitating the sun’s course through the sky.

The Stupa builds as look like Lord Buddha or General Features Identified of Nature concept:

The square base represents earth
The hemispherical dome/vase represents water
The conical spire represents fire
The upper lotus parasol and the crescent moon represent air
The sun and the dissolving point represent wisdom

For Buddhists, building stupas also has karmic benefits. Karma, a key component in Buddhism, is the energy generated by a person’s actions and the ethical consequences of those actions.

Construction Ideology

While they can vary visually, all stupas have a few features in common. Every stupa contains a treasury filled with various objects—small offerings, or Tsa-Tsas, fill the majority of the treasury, while jewelry and other precious objects are also placed within. It is believed that the more the objects placed into the treasury, the stronger the stupa’s energy. The Tree of Life, a wooden pole covered with gems and mantras, is an important element of every stupa and is placed in the stupa’s central channel during an initiation ceremony, where participants’ most powerful wishes are stored.

The earliest stupas contained portions of the Buddha’s ashes, and as a result, the stupa began to be associated with the body of the Buddha. “The Stupa is truly the image, or rather the epiphany, of the Buddha, of his Law that rules the universe, and is moreover a psycho-cosmogram. (Sahai, 2006). The form, suggested by the apparent aspect of the vault of the sky, implies in its turn the total presence and intangibility of the Buddha, who in this way is seen not as a human teacher but as the essence of the Universe.” (Boundless, 2018)

Types of Stupas:

The Relic Stupa, containing the physical remains of the Lord Buddha or his disciples;
The Object Stupa, containing objects that belonged to the Lord Buddha or his disciples;
The Commemorative (Memorial) Stupa, marking an event in the Lord Buddha’s life;
The Symbolic Stupa, representing aspects of Buddhist teachings or Lord Buddha;
The Votive Stupa, erected to make a dedication or to accumulate merit.

The Relic Stupa, Sanchi

Object Stupa - Buddha Stupa - Vaishali

Commemorative Stupa Jetavanaramaya Stupa, Anuradhapura

Symbolic Stupa - Shanti Stupa - Leh

Votive Stupa – Buddha Gaya

Votive Stupa – Glass

Votive Stupa

Constructed to commemorate visits or to gain spiritual benefits, usually at the site of prominent stupas which are regularly visited.

Small stupas can function as votive offerings (objects that serve as the focal point for acts of devotion). In order to gain merit, to improve one’s karma, individuals could sponsor the casting of a votive stupa.

Votive stupas can be consecrated (புனிதப்படுத்தப்பட்டது) and used in home altars (வணங்குதற்குரிய இடம்) or utilized in monastic shrines. Since they are small, they can be easily transported; votive stupas, along with small statues of the Buddha and other Buddhist deities.

Votive stupas are often carved from stone or bronze. The bronze stupas can also serve as a reliquary(பேழை) and ashes of important teachers can be encased inside.

This stupa clearly shows the link between the form of the stupa and the body of the Buddha. The Buddha is represented at his moment of Enlightenment, when he received the knowledge of the Four Noble Truths (the dharma or law). He is making the earth touching gesture (bhumisparsamudra) and is seated in padmasan, the lotus position. He is seated in a gateway signifying a sacred space that recalls the gates on each side of monumental stupas.