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    Stupa

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    Pritika Minhas
    Stupas are Buddhist monuments that traditionally contain relics, but they have evolved over time. There are two types of innovative stupas described - Collage Stupas piece together fragments to resemble a stupa and contain relics externally, while Shanti Stupas were built as symbols of peace after World War II and sometimes blend styles to promote Buddhism as a peaceful religion. Both demonstrate how the stupa form has adapted while maintaining religious significance.

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    Stupa

    Uploaded by

    Pritika Minhas
    80 views2 pages
    Stupas are Buddhist monuments that traditionally contain relics, but they have evolved over time. There are two types of innovative stupas described - Collage Stupas piece together fragments to resemble a stupa and contain relics externally, while Shanti Stupas were built as symbols of peace after World War II and sometimes blend styles to promote Buddhism as a peaceful religion. Both demonstrate how the stupa form has adapted while maintaining religious significance.

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    Stupas are Buddhist monuments that traditionally contain relics, but they have evolved over time. There are two types of innovative stupas described - Collage Stupas piece together fragments to resemble a stupa and contain relics externally, while Shanti Stupas were built as symbols of peace after World War II and sometimes blend styles to promote Buddhism as a peaceful religion. Both demonstrate how the stupa form has adapted while maintaining religious significance.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    80 views2 pages

    Stupa

    Uploaded by

    Pritika Minhas
    Stupas are Buddhist monuments that traditionally contain relics, but they have evolved over time. There are two types of innovative stupas described - Collage Stupas piece together fragments to resemble a stupa and contain relics externally, while Shanti Stupas were built as symbols of peace after World War II and sometimes blend styles to promote Buddhism as a peaceful religion. Both demonstrate how the stupa form has adapted while maintaining religious significance.

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    The stupa is a dynamic monument

    A stupa is a container of relics and a prevalent visual symbol of Buddhism. The monument,
    however, is dynamic given that monuments built as stupas differ in build and function. Two
    exemplary examples would be the collage stupas and Shanti stupas.

    Collage Stupas (at Bodhgaya at Ratnagiri)

    The term ‘collage stupas’ is derived from the apparent function that pieces or fragments of
    mounds and domes with miniature Buddha images, piece together create to form a recognizable
    shape of a stupa. In their literal sense, they are dilapidated or reconstructed relic mounds that as per
    the definition found in Kalingabodhi Jataka must be considered as touch-relics of the Buddha.
    Defining these mounds of ‘votive stupas’ that mostly date from the eighth century or later as
    ‘collage stupas’ is necessary to understand the reconstructed meanings of these mounds in the
    contemporary Buddhist context.

    While stupas usually contain relics inside, Collage stupas ‘contain’ dharmic relics on the
    outside on the surface of an image or in the form of an inscription. Their immediate identification as
    stupas also comes from their visual references to Sanchi and its placement at Bodhgaya imitating
    the structure of the five towers of the Mahabodhi temple. Collage stupas are usually found on
    prominent sites, their location provides collage stupas with a metamorphic characteristic of active
    pilgrimage sites.

    Shanti Stupas (at Rajgir)

    After witnessing the horrendous bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the Second
    World War, Japans Fuji Nichidatsu encouraged the building of stupas containing relics as symbols
    of peace, which earned them the name of Peace Pagodas or Shanti Stupas. The first Peace Pagoda
    was completed in 1954; more than seventy shanty stupas have been constructed since. The six
    stupas in India too, while visually generic and identical seem to be a ‘hybrid’ of multiple visual
    sources and styles.

    Such intentional hybridity may mark the reinvention of stupa iconography for the future of
    International Buddhism. This hybridity lends Shanti stupas two important characteristics –
    religiosity and tensions over legitimacy. Since many visitors view these stupas as icons of peace
    rather than just Buddhist structures, Shanti stupas are transforming the significance of the stupa
    from a monument to a promoter of Buddhism as a peaceful religion. Since Stupas may be built by
    foreign groups they may also cause tension over legitimacy. The Ladakh Sanchi stupa, while
    containing extremely localised motif is an incredible example of Buddhist sites incorporating visual
    elements of local nature but that begs the question of where Fujis original Japanese identity may fit
    in or whether the inclusion of localised ideal may conflict with such ‘contemporary’ yet original
    notions of the Peace Pagodas.

    The given examples may prove that despite the eccentricity of their shape and function, a
    varied idea of what a stupa may be has developed but that does not seem to decrease its
    authenticity or importance.

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