Svayambhu Stupa

In this inscribed painting, Nepal’s Svayambhu Stupa floats on a pink lotus in the middle of a lake. This imagery reflects the legendary history of the stupa. Once, a buddha named Vipashvin planted a lotus seed in the lake. The seed then grew into a thousand-petal lotus, and subsequently a five-color beam of light emanated from it. In traditional Nepalese Buddhist thought each color corresponds to one of the five directional buddhas, each of whom appears in the upper register of the painting.
Within the dome of the monument sits Ushnishavijaya, an eight-armed goddess of long life who personifies the spiritual force enshrined within the stupa.
The lower register depicts various phases of the consecration ceremonies attendant upon the renovation of the stupa. A procession moves toward the far left, where a priest before a fire presides over the ritual.