Stupa

Stupas are commonly viewed as reliquaries for saints, holding their mortal remains and clothes, as well as sacred texts, articles of worship, and, in Tibetan Buddhism, figures made of clay and the ashes of the deceased (tsa tsa). However there is also a clear correspondence between the stupa and the Buddhist model of the universe, as the nearby stupa from Bihar and the Kalachakra universe model prove.

The trinity of sun, moon, and flame frequently crowning the Tibetan stupa are references to the three main channels in the human body, an indication that there are also correlations between the stupa and the body, or at least the body of the Buddha. This is evident in an observation found in a late Buddhist Javanese text: ‘‘The body of the Buddha, seen from without, is a stupa.’’