Symbols of Mind

In origin, the stupa developed from the Indo-Aryan tumulus,the burial mound of time immenmorial. It was the Buddha Sakyamuni's request that his relics be enshrined in such mounds. His relics were distributed amongst eight stupas were built in the sixth century B.C. At the time of the great Indian Emperor Ashoka (300.B.C.),the relics were further divided and stupas proliferated. The dome itself began to signify the Buddha.The oldest stupas and the closest form to the original designsare the simple high domes of Sri Lankan stupa, and the Dharmamegha stupa at Sarnath in India. Through the center of the solid dome ran a timber mast or axis, representing the universal tree of life.Surmounting the dome was a protecting and glorifying canopy. From this simple beginning the unique Nepali monumental stupa developed.The foundation is a round drum (medhi) or square plinth of stone.