Tibetan Buddhist Stupas are very attractive to travelers in Tibet. Many of our visitors ask questions about the different shapes and forms of Stupas during their visit. Today, we are willing to share what we have learned about the Stupa.
Stupas originated in India during the pre-Buddhist era as burial mounds. Traditionally, Hinduism practices burning the dead to cremate. However, the higher priests bury them, as they would have already done the fire purification. The stupa was also built in a place where the kings and nobles were burned. After the high priest’s death, his stupa became a pilgrimage place for his followers, as Buddhism derived many cultural practices from Hinduism. So, it is the culture build into the Stupa.
The design of the Tibetan Buddhist Stupa
The design of the Tibetan Buddhist Stupa is said to have been preach by Buddha himself during his lifetime. During the lifetime of Buddha, different stupas were build by devotees to mark the place of the critical event in his lifetime. After his Parinirvana and cremation, a dispute arose among the various Indian ethnic groups over the possession of his Ashes as relics. The relics are later divide equally among the eight claimant tribes. Thus, eight Stupas were build in their kingdom’s eight capitals, known as the eight relic stupas of the eight cities.
Later, Buddhism spread into other eastern and northern Asian countries, including China, Russia, Burma, Thailand, etc. As time passed, these cultures developed their version of the stupa design. The original Stupa design, as Buddha said, is still visible in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh in Sanchi.
Other uses of the Stupa in Tibet
Although the original purpose of the Tibetan Buddhist Stupa was to enshrine the relics of great spiritual teachers, they are also construct for many other auspicious reasons. At the Sacred site, they commemorate the significant events; at crossroads, mountain passes, and pilgrimage routes, they focus on religious devotion. As the stabilizer, removers of the hindrance, illness, and epidemics, they bring peace to the strife-torn land, longevity of local inhabitants, and a sense of harmony to the environment. Gyantse Kumbum Stupa contains 108 Chapels, where all the deities and the Buddha in Tibetan Buddhism are also present.
Tomb Stupa in Tibet
In Tibet, mummified bodies of highly realized Masters are sometimes enshrined in the lavishly gilded and jeweled stupa. The three most popular tomb stupas in Tibet are: the tomb stupa of the fifth Dalai Lama in Potala Palace, the tomb stupa of Lama Tsongkapa (the founder of the Gelugpa sect) in Ganden monastery in Lhasa, and the tomb stupa of the tenth Panchen Lama in Tashi Lhunpo monastery in Shigatse. The Large reliquary stupa of the great Fifth Dalai Lama is covering with over three and a half tons of gold leaf and embellish with thousands of large, precious stones and pearls.
The Tibetan Buddhist Stupa has three parts: the Throne base, the drone, and the Harmika spire. It symbolizes the body, speech, and mind of Buddha. The unit of the Stupa represents the greatest nature of an enlightened, bell-shaped being.
Types of Tibetan Buddhist Stupa
1) Lotus Blossom Stupa
The stupa of heaped lotuses or Lotus blossom stupa commemorates the Buddha’s birth in the royal Lumbini Garden on the seventh day of the fourth lunar month in 563 BC. His father, Shuddhodana, have erect a stupa in this design to commemorate this event. At birth, Buddha took seven steps in each direction from which the lotus sprang, symbolizing his resolve to embark on the path of the four immeasurables. Four steps of this stupa are circular and decorated with a lotus petal design. A tradition also exists in constructing seven heaped lotus steps to represent Buddha’s first action. This stupa is also known as the birthplace of the Sugata Stupa.
2) Stupa of the Conquest of Mara.
This stupa, also known as the Enlightenment Stupa, commemorates the Buddha’s defeat of the Temptation and attack of the hosts of Mara under the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya when he was thirty-five years old. King Bimbisara is said to have erect a stupa in this design. This stupa has traditional unadorned four-square steps, often with a slight overhang along the top of each other.
3) Stupa of many doors.
The stupa of many doors commemorates the Buddha’s first turning wheel of Dharma at the deer park in Sarnath near Varanasi when he was thirty-five years old. His first five mendicant disciples are said to have build a stupa in this design. Each four-square step is decorate with many door frames, which express the many avenues or methods of Buddha’s teachings. A Series of four, six, and twelve doors on each side of the steps symbolize the four noble truths, the six perfections, the noble eightfold path, and the twelve links in the chain of dependent origination.
4) Stupa of Great Miracle
The great miracle stupa commemorates the Buddha’s display of inconceivable miracles in the first half of a lunar month in Shravasti, when he was fifty years old. Here, he overpowered the Maras and the heretics at the Jetavana Grove. The stupa of miracles, or the conquest of the tirthas, was build by the Lichavi tribe to commemorate this event. The stupa of Miracle has a projecting central section on each of its four steps and sides, which also projects slightly by one-third of the height.
5) Stupa of descent from the god realm.
The stupa of the descendant from the God realm commemorates Buddha’s descent from heaven of thirty-three gods when he was forty-two years old. There, he spent the summer retreat in Tushita heaven teaching the Dharma to the reincarnation of his mother to repay her kindness in having borne him just before she died.
He descended at Sankasya, and the locals built a stupa in this design to commemorate the event. The descent from the God realm stupa is characterize by a central projection on each of its four sides, containing a triple ladder or projected steps. The central forecast follows the plan of the miracle stupa with middle buttresses that project by one-third of their height. The project step, which forms a triple receding ladder, was said to have been construct for the Buddha by the celestial architect Vishwakarma.
They often have three rows of thirty-three steps, symbolizing the god realms. Ladder stairways in this design are usually built at the temple entrances; the central stairways are reserve exclusively for distinguishing or incarnate Lamas. The proper stairways are for the ordained monks, and the left is for the lay practitioners. The triple flight of wooden stairs at the Potala Palace is worn down in its right and left sections, as this section is reserved only for the Highest Lama.
6) The Stupa of reconciliation.
The stupa of reconciliation commemorates Buddha’s reconciliation of the disputing faction within the Sangha, which had been divide by the enmity of his cousin Devadatta. Buddha reunite the Sangha at the Velvuvana Bamboo grove at Rajagriha, and the local inhabitants of the kingdom of Magadha construct a stupa of this design. The reconciliation stupa is characterize by its four octagonal steps with equal sides. The various symbolic meanings are given for the four levels of the eight-sided steps, which total thirty-two in number.
7) The stupa complete victory.
The stupa of complete victory commemorates the Buddha’s prolongation of his life by three months. This event occurred at the city of Vaisali when Buddha was eighty years of age, at the supplication of the lay devotee Tsundra. The celestial beings have built the stupa in this design. The complete victory stupa is characterize by only three steps, which are circular and unadorn.
8) The Stupa of Nirvana.
Nirvana Stupa. Stupa of Nirvana, commemorating Buddha’s passing beyond sorrow into his final Parinirvana at Kushinagara when he was eighty. The Malla tribe of Kushinagara erected the stupa in this design. The Nirvana Stupa has a circular, bell-shaped dome. It rests directly on the circular base of the ten virtues with no ascending steps. Usually, the stupa does not have an ornament. Except occasionally when the base or mouth of the dome is decorate with the ornate ring of inscribed circles. Its simplicity and the absence of the step symbolized Buddha’s complete absorption into Parinirvana. Where all conceptual qualities merge into the unqualified state of pure emptiness as the Dharmakaya.
All the original Tibetan Buddhist stupas built during the time of Buddha didn’t survive intact today. Wherever you go in the Buddhist world, you will find the set of eight stupas. Please learn more on Wikipedia.
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