Section of a Dharani Pillar

This octagonal stone pillar, with Buddhist figures carved on its eight sides, is part of a <em>dharani</em> pillar commissioned by Buddhist believers to pay tribute to the dead. The eight inscriptions seen here are eulogies dedicated by eight families to their deceased family members.

Dharanis were a form of spell in Esoteric Buddhism said to possess supernatural power when being recited or carried and were incorporated into sutras, such as the <em>Buddha Usnisa Vijaya Dharani Sutra</em>. Dharani pillars, also called sutra pillars, became the dominant bearers of <em>Usnisa Vijaya Dharani</em> which supposedly helped sentient beings prolong life and destroy hardships of the eternal cycle of life and the realms of hell.