Stupas

From about the 4th or 3rd century BCE, as Buddhism grew, new kinds of buildings appeared in north India and slowly spread.

The best known is the stupa: a dome-shaped structure of brick or stone that holds relics (remains) of the Buddha or of respected monks. Thousands were built.

The bigger stupas grew into busy places of worship, with:

• railings around them;
• gateways;
• carved panels telling stories from the Buddha's life.

Here is something to notice in those panels. In this early period the Buddha was never shown as a person. He was shown only by symbols:

• his footprints;
• the wheel of dharma (his teaching);
• the stupa itself.

The great stupa at Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh was ordered or supported by Aśhoka. It is from the earliest stage of big stone religious buildings in India.

How did a visitor use it?

• You came in through a toraṇa, a huge decorated gateway carved with scenes of town and village life.
• Inside the stone railing (the vedikā), you walked around the stupa. Walking around something holy is called circumambulation.

At Bharhut, also in Madhya Pradesh, the carvings actually show people worshipping a stupa.

Bharhut's railings also carry many inscriptions with the names of donors. So these monuments were paid for by many ordinary people, not only by kings.

Stupas are found in Jainism too. The stupa idea spread across India and far beyond, as far as Borobudur in Indonesia.