|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries: |
Research categories | Follow us on Twitter |
Research categories
View all topics in the newsView all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com |
|||
Stūpa
Stūpa (Skt.; Pāli, thūpa). A reliquary (relics) monument ubiquitous throughout the Buddhist world and which, as an object of formal devotion and as a symbol of Buddhahood itself, has been compared in role to the cross in Christianity. The stūpa originated in India from the earlier caitya, a funeral mound commemorating regional kings. Instructions from the Buddha that he himself should be so commemorated—in order to remind people of the possibility of nirvāna—are contained in the Hīnayāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra.
The earliest form of the stūpa (e.g. from the 1st cent. CE, at Sañci, C. India) consisted of a simple base supporting an egg-shaped dome (aṇḍa) which contained the relics, and a spire with three rings—a combination in meaning of the ceremonial parasol and the Three Jewels. The whole was surrounded by railings which circumscribed the stūpa as a sanctified area. From this basic form eight theoretical types were developed of which only two were commonly built. These were the Enlightenment Stūpa, which follows the above description, and the Descending Divinity Stūpa, commemorating the descent of the Buddha to teach his mother (after a Jātaka tale), which has steps leading to a raised walkway around the dome. Mahāyāna variations of these types could have five or seven ‘umbrellas’ to represent stages on the path to Buddhahood, and a multiple base to represent the five elements, thus greatly aligning the stūpa with the maṇḍala as a cosmogrammatic representation. The stūpa continued to evolve outside India, producing the pagoda in E. Asia, and reaching the height of its symbolic richness in the Tibetan chorten. |
|
|
Cite this article
JOHN BOWKER. "Stūpa." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN BOWKER. "Stūpa." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Stpa.html JOHN BOWKER. "Stūpa." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Stpa.html |
|
stupa
stupa [Sanskrit,=mound], Buddhist monument in tumulus, or mound, form, often containing relics. The words tope and dagoba are synonymous, though the latter properly refers only to a Sinhalese Buddhist stupa. The stupa is probably derived from a pre-Buddhist burial mound. The oldest known prototypes (c.700 BC) are the enormous mounds of earth at Lauriya Nandangarh in NE India, which were the burial places of royalty. The wooden masts embedded in the center of these mounds probably carried the umbrellas that served as a symbol of royalty and authority; early Buddhists appropriated not only the royal symbol of the stupa but also used the umbrella as a symbol for the Buddha. The Emperor Asoka was the first to encourage the building of stupas. The earliest mound forms that can properly be termed stupas, those at Sanchi and Bharhut (see Indian art and architecture ), are hemispherical masses of earth raised on a base and faced with brick or stone. The structure is surrounded by a processional path, the whole being enclosed by a stone railing and topped by a balcony. Though in its development the stupa often became elaborate and complex, in its purest form the plan consisted of a circle within a square. Many of the most significant monuments of the Buddhist world are stupas, and they can be found in every country in which Buddhism has been practiced. Some examples are the Thuparama dagoba (244 BC) in Sri Lanka, Borobudur in Java (8th or 9th cent. AD), and the Mingalazedi stupa in Myanmar (AD 1274). In East Asian Buddhist architecture, the function of the stupa has been taken over by the pagoda. |
|
|
Cite this article
"stupa." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "stupa." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-stupa.html "stupa." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-stupa.html |
|
stūpa
stūpa (Skt.; Pāli, thūpa). A religious monument which evolved from the prehistoric tumulus or burial mound into a dome-shaped structure such as the early Indian stūpas at Sāñcī. To this shape a spire was subsequently added, and the final phase of development was the pagoda style of tower found throughout east Asia. Stūpas were built originally to commemorate a Buddha or other enlightened person, a practice validated by the Buddha in the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta where he leaves instructions that a stūpa is to be constructed over his relics. As well as relics, stūpas often contain sacred objects, such as texts. A small replica of a stūpa is often used as a reliquary.
|
|
|
Cite this article
DAMIEN KEOWN. "stūpa." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. DAMIEN KEOWN. "stūpa." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O108-stpa.html DAMIEN KEOWN. "stūpa." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O108-stpa.html |
|
stupa
stupa. Buddhist funerary mound in the form of a hemisphere of earth and rubble. The earliest (C3–C1 bc) are raised on low drums faced with brick or stone. Stupas are sometimes of bell-like form with a platform at the top (surrounded by stone railings) carrying a mast-like stone upright with one or more canopies resembling umbrellas (chattra). Stupa-like elements sometimes occur as ornaments in the Indian style.
Bibliography Cruickshank (ed.) (1996); |
|
|
Cite this article
JAMES STEVENS CURL. "stupa." A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JAMES STEVENS CURL. "stupa." A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O1-stupa.html JAMES STEVENS CURL. "stupa." A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. 2000. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O1-stupa.html |
|
stupa
stu·pa / ˈstoōpə/ • n. a dome-shaped structure erected as a Buddhist shrine. |
|
|
Cite this article
"stupa." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "stupa." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-stupa.html "stupa." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-stupa.html |
|
stupa
stupa
•coper, doper, eloper, Europa, groper, hoper, L-dopa, moper, no-hoper, opah, toper
•interloper
•blooper, cooper, Cowper, duper, grouper, Hooper, looper, pea-souper, pupa, scooper, snooper, stupa, stupor, super, trooper, trouper, whooper
•pooper-scooper • party-pooper
•paratrooper • mea culpa • chutzpah
•crupper, cuppa, scupper, supper, upper
•gulper, kalpa, pulper
•bumper, dumper, gazumper, jumper, lumper, stumper, thumper
•showjumper • diaper • galloper
•developer
•scalloper, walloper
•chirper, sherpa, usurper
|
|
|
Cite this article
"stupa." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "stupa." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-stupa.html "stupa." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-stupa.html |
|
|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries:
HighBeam™ Research, Inc. © Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.
The Encyclopedia.com advertising network includes:
