Amaravati Sculptures in the Madras Government Museum c6.s3.2

c6.s3.2

Caitya is used invariably with the word yūpa in the Mahabharata (ii, 3, 12 ; i, 1, 227 ; i, 94, 29 ; i, 109, 13). The sense in which the word has to be understood there is a sacrificial shed or building near the yūpa. The ‘sacred tree’ itself is also called a caitya in the Mahabharata (ii, 5, 100). It is in this sense (the tree itself and not a building) that the word is commonly understood and literary evidences are not wanting for such usage.