What do you mean by the word ‘Stupa’?

Hint: They are often associated with Buddhism and the relics of the Buddhist monks. It is believed to represent Buddha, crowned and meditating on a lion throne.

Complete Answer:
- A stupa is a somewhat hemispherical structure that contains the relics or the remains of Buddhist Monks and Nuns, and is used as a place for meditation. Sometimes a stupa is contained inside another architectural structure called ‘Chaitya’. The Chaitya is a prayer hall that contains the ‘Stupa’.
- After the death of Gautama Buddha, his body was cremated and his ashes were divided into eight relics. Each of these relics were buried under eight different mounds in different places in India. The mounds in which these relics were buried are known as stupas. Later in the 3rd century CE, King Ashoka recovered these relics from the eight stupas and divided them further into 84,000 relics and erected 84,000 stupas all across India to contain all the individual relics.
- The Sanchi Stupa and the Kesariya Stupa are two of the oldest Stupas that King Ashoka erected. The word ‘stupa’ was first read from the inscriptions by King Ashoka on his Nighali Sagar Pillar. It was written in Pali language and in Brahmi script.

With time the Stupas have been developed into five types depending on its function:
1. Relic Stupa: Contains the remains or relics of Buddha, his disciples and monks.
2. Object Stupa: The buried items in such a Stupa are the belongings of Buddha and his disciples (for e.g. robes, bowls, important sculptures etc.)
3. Commemorative Stupa: It is constructed to commemorate the important events in the lives of Buddha and his disciples.
4. Symbolic Stupa: It symbolizes the aspects of the Buddhist theology (for e.g. the three worlds, the spiritual stages, the bodhisattva etc.).
5. Votive Stupa: Constructed for regular visits, prayers, commemorations and spiritual benefits.

Note: The tallest stupa in the world is located in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka and is called Jetavanaramaya Stupa. It is 120 meters tall.
- Other than the South Asian subcontinent, Stupas are also found in Europe. One of them is the Benalmadena Stupa which is the tallest stupa in the whole of Europe.
- The European stupas are not much old as they were built around the 19th and 20th centuries.