GS1 PYQ (Mains Answer Writing): Buddhist Stupas | History for UPSC CSE PDF Download

Early Buddhist Stupa-art, while depicting folk motifs and narratives successfully expounds Buddhist ideals, Elucidate. (UPSC GS1 Mains )

In Buddhism, the earliest stupas contained portions of the Buddha’s ashes, and as a result, the stupa began to be associated with the body of the Buddha.

• Buddha had asked pupils to place the relics “where four roads meet”. This is probably to indicate the openness and universality of the Buddhist teaching, which invites all to come and try its path, and also to radiate loving-kindness to beings in all four directions. 
• Stupas contain intricate lotus designs which symbolises the potential for spiritual growth latent in all beings, and the complete non-attachment of the enlightened mind, which stands beyond all defilements.
• Stupa is an image of the creation of the universe (the archetype of regeneration), with the stupa axis founded on the waters and rising through the earth, atmosphere and heavens so as to unite them and form a communicating link between them. 
• The shape of the stupa represents the Buddha, crowned and sitting in meditation posture on a lion throne. 
• While stupas have changed in form over the years, their function remains essentially unchanged. Stupas remind the Buddhist practitioner of the Buddha and his teachings almost 2,500 years after his death. 
• The most elaborate stupa in Java contained Buddha images symbolizing Arûpajhâna, the sphere of formlessness. The main stupa itself is empty, symbolizing complete perfection of enlightenment. 
• Thus the art and architecture associated with Buddhism symbolized the Buddhist ideals.

Topics Covered - Buddhism & Jainism