Stūpa m Skt. (Pali, thūpa; Sinh. dagoba; Tib., chöten), lit. “hair knot”; characteristic expression of Buddhist architecture, one of the main symbols of Buddhism and a focal point in temples and monasteries.
Originally Stūpas were memorial monuments over the mortal remains (sharīra) of the historical Buddha and other saints. They also served, however, as symbolic reminders of various decisive events in the life of Shākyamuni Buddha. Thus Stūpas were built at Lumbinī, Bodh-gayā, Kushinagara, Sārnāth, and so on. At the latest by the time of King Ashoka (3d century B.C.E.), the veneration of saints had become a general custom; the Stūpas from his time are still preserved.
Not every stūpa contains relics in the proper sense; in their place sacred texts and representations are also enshrined, which confer their sacredness on the stūpa. Stūpas are often purely symbolic structures; examples are Borobudur and the three-dimensional mandalas of Tibet.
The veneration of stūpas, in which the Buddha is “present,” has been known since the early period of Buddhism. Such veneration is usually expressed by circumambulating the stūpa in the direction of the sun’s course but also through other forms of worship (pūjā). It is not, however, the relics themselves that are venerated; rather the stūpa serves as a support for meditation and as a symbolic reminder of the awakened state of mind.
The original form of the stūpa is preserved in the stūpas of Sāñchi. On a circular base, there is a hemisphere, flattened at the top; on this, rising through a square stone latticework structure, is a short post with three flat umbrella shapes towards the top. The latticework structure often has the form of a box roofed with slabs. The umbrella shapes are symbols of dignity and veneration. A stone wall with four gates as entrances separates the sacred site from the world around it. The reliquary vessels, which themselves often have the form of a stūpa and are made of precious materials, are usually located at the central axis of the stūpa, on the floor of the hemisphere or at its top.
All stūpa forms and those of the pagoda, the East Asian variant of the stūpa, are derived from this type of stūpa, which was widespread between the 3d century B.C.E. and the 1st century C.E.
In the second phase of development of the stūpa, which took place in Gandhāra, the circular base was raised into a cylinder. This was divided into levels. The hemisphere also underwent vertical elongation and became smaller in relation to the base. These changes made room for differentiated architectonic articulation through the use of buddha images, votive statues, and reliefs depicting a story. The top part also became longer and was given more umbrella shapes, which in further course of development came to form a cone-shaped spire.
Between 150 and 400 C.E. , the circular base became a square pedestal, which was divided into several levels and was provided with stairways that led up to the circumambulation path. This form of stūpa is also found in Central Asia.
In Sri Lanka and Thailand the basic form with the low circular base is preserved, the hemisphere is elongated vertically and is often bell-shaped. It is topped off with a very narrow, long spire. In Tibet and Lamaist China, the old type with hemispheric body between base and spire continued. The three-dimensional form called chöten (“offering container”) is regarded in Tibetan Buddhism as a symbol of the body, speech, and mind of the Buddha. Its size ranges from that of small shrine objects to that of monumental structures visible from a distance. When above a certain size, chötens are ritually circumambulated. Two of the most important stūpas in Nepal are still today objects of pilgrimage.
The symbology of the chöten is basedon Mahāyāna doctrine. The four lower levels stand for the four positive states of mind of love, compassion, joy, and equanimity. A secondary pedestal on top of this has ten further levels that ascend to the middle part of the chöten; these represent the ten stages (bhūmi) of the spiritual development of a bodhisattva. The middle part or “body” of the chöten symbolizes the awakened mind (bodhicitta) and in certain cases contains the image of a deity.
Above this middle part rise thirteen umbrella shapes of different sizes; they represent various methods of propagating the Buddhist teaching (dharma). On top of these umbrella shapes is a five-petaled lotus, symbol of the properties of the five Buddha families (buddhakula). The pinnacle of the stūpa is composed of a sun disk resting on a crescent moon, which symbolizes the cosmic grandeur of the teaching.
There is a further typology of eight kinds of chötens that differ only slightly in form, which developed as a reminder of the eight essential acts of the Buddha during his life. The cult of the stūpa as a visible sign of the teaching was introduced into Tibet mainly by Atīsha, and the chöten is still today the symbol of the Kadampa school.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen. Shambhala Publications, Inc.
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