Architecture & Visual Arts› Stupas, Sculpture & Iconography
With reference to ancient India, consider the following statements:
- 1. The concept of Stupa is Buddhist in origin.
- 2. Stupa was generally a repository of relics.
- 3. Stupa was a votive and commemorative structure in Buddhist tradition
How many of the statements given above are correct?
Answer b.
Only statements 2 and 3 are correct, so the answer is (b). The stupa form is pre-Buddhist — it appears in Vedic literature as a mound or heap — even though Buddhism made it a relic shrine and an object of veneration. The word stupa simply means a heap or mound and occurs in the Rigveda and later Vedic texts; funerary mounds over the ashes of the dead existed in India before the Buddha, so the concept is not Buddhist in origin — Buddhism adopted and elaborated it. In Buddhist practice the stupa was built over corporeal relics (sharirika), objects used by the Buddha (paribhogika), or at sites linked to his life, and the Mahaparinibbana Sutta records the division of the Buddha's relics among eight claimants. Stupas were also raised as votive offerings by pilgrims and donors and as commemorative markers — Sanchi and Bharhut are ringed by small votive stupas with donor inscriptions. Hence statement 1 is wrong while 2 and 3 stand.
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