Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c12.s1.1

c12.s1.1

The Stūpa, literally a mound (Hindi thūhā, Pali thūbha), was a sepulchral monument generally made of earth on the site of the funeral pyre (citā) owing to which it was also known as caitya. The practice was to mark the spot of cremation raising a mound of earth or planting a Pipala tree both of which came to be termed caitya. The mound of earth was associated with a wooden post which was therefore termed as caitya-yūpa, the like of which are known in the burial mounds of Lauriā Nandangarh. The original mound of earth served as a core to be encased later by bricks and in the next stage by stone known as *śilā-kañchuka* or *śilā-āchchhadana*. The Stūpa of Bharhut was covered with bricks and plastered on the outside and that of Sanchi also encased with stone. Such enlargements of the original mounds of earth which were held to be specially sacred were a common feature of the bigger Stūpas of later times known as *Maheśākhya* brought about by the conversion of the smaller ones (*Alpe-śākhya*). The construction of the brick and stone Stūpas gave rise to complicated technical problems of architecture which were further elaborated by the building of railings and gateways. In no other Indian monument, excepting the temples, the architectural evolution is so regularly traceable from the simplest to the most complex form in each essential element as well as decorative features with successive belts of which the classical and medieval Stūpas were loaded. The antiquity of the Stūpa monument both on the religious and architectural side is a matter of great significance for the history of Indian art.