Chorten

views updated May 18 2018

Chorten (mchod.rten, ‘receptacle of offerings’). The Tibetan development of the Indian Buddhist stūpa. The chorten is similar in function to the stūpa as a receptacle for the remains of a holy person and as a shrine containing texts, images, etc., but differs in its architectural development.

Along with the two types of stūpa common in India—the basic form and the form with a raised walkway (which in Tibet is usually too narrow to be anything more than symbolic)—a chorten comprising an archway may be found at the entrance to a city, and the uniquely Tibetan Multiple Door (sgo.mang) chorten is especially prolific.