Stupa
At its simplest, a stupa is a dirt burial mound faced with stone. In Buddhism, the earliest stupas contained portions of the Buddha's ashes, and as a result, the stupa began to be associated with the body of the Buddha. Adding the Buddha's ashes to the mound of dirt activated it with the energy of the Buddha himself.
Stupa Media
Megalithic burial mound (tumulus) with chamber, India
Relic Stupa of Vaishali, built by the Licchavis, and possibly the earliest archaeologically known stupa, dating to the 5th century BCE
The Piprahwa stupa is one of the earliest surviving stupas.
Evolution of the Butkara Stupa. Reference: Domenico Faccenna, "Butkara I, Swat Pakistan, 1956-1962), Part I, IsMEO, ROME 1980. Own drawings, own work.
The Chinese Songyue Pagoda (523 CE) is thought to derive from the Gandharan tower-stupa model.[1]
Row of chorten stupas on roadside east of Leh, Ladakh
Borobudur bell-shaped stupas
A Jain stupa, Mathura, 1st century CE
Boudhanath Stupa, Kathmandu, Nepal
View of the Wat Phra Kaew complex from the northeast
