What Is a
Stupa?
Lion's Roar Staff| June
16, 2017
Stupas are one of the most recognizable forms
of Buddhist architecture, dotting the landscape in all Buddhist
countries. Like Buddhist temples, their style differs from culture
to culture, but the basic structure remains the same.
At its simplest, a stupa is a dirt burial
mound faced with stone, often containing relics or religious
objects and used as a place of meditation. The Great Stupa in
Sanchi, India, is the earliest known stupa, dating back to the
fourth century BCE. The largest stupa in the world is Borobudur in
Indonesia.
While the different sections of the stupa have
various symbolic meanings, its basic shape has come to represent
the seated Buddha when he achieved enlightenment. The square base
represents the Buddha’s crossed legs as he sat on the earth; the
middle section, called the hemisphere or mound, is the Buddha’s
body; and the conical spire at the top represents the Buddha’s
head. There may also be a wooden pole within the stupa representing
the Buddha’s spine or central channel (avadhuti).
There are five types of stupas: the relic
stupa, containing the remains of the Buddha and his disciples; the
object stupa, containing objects that belonged to the Buddha or his
disciples; the commemorative stupa, marking an event in the
Buddha’s life; the symbolic stupa, representing aspects of Buddhist
teachings; and the votive stupa, erected to make a dedication or to
accumulate merit.
To build a stupa, transmissions from
a qualified Buddhist teacher are necessary. When visiting
a stupa, practitioners circumambulate it clockwise as a meditation
practice, focusing on the endless cycle of rebirth (samsara) and
the eightfold path that leads to freedom from suffering.