Category: Ritual Objects | Tradition: Buddhism | Origin: Nepal, India, and Tibet
Stupas are among the most recognizable monuments of the Buddhist world, and Nepal holds some of the most beloved of them. From the white dome of Swayambhunath on its hill above Kathmandu to the great stupa of Boudhanath, and from the ancient mounds of the Terai to the monuments of India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Myanmar, famous stupas show how one simple idea, a monument that stands for the Buddha and his teachings, has taken many forms. This guide introduces the most famous stupas of Nepal first, then some of the great stupas beyond it, and explains what makes each one special, how they came to be, and how people continue to visit and care for them. Many of these monuments rest on legends as well as on historical records, so where a story is a tradition and not an established fact, we say so.
What Makes a Stupa Famous?
A stupa becomes famous for several reasons, and the great ones usually combine more than one of them.
• Age and history: Some stupas have stood for well over a thousand years, and their histories are bound up with the story of Buddhism in their region.
• Sacred associations: A stupa may hold relics, mark an event in the life of the Buddha, or be linked with a legend that gives the place its meaning.
• Pilgrimage and living practice: The most famous stupas are not museums. They are places where people still walk, pray, light lamps and gather for festivals every day.
• Art and architecture: Carved gateways, gilded spires, painted eyes and terraces show the skill of the artisans who built and cared for them.
If you would like to know what a stupa is and what its parts mean before you read about particular monuments, our article What Is a Stupa? explains the basics.
Famous Stupas of Nepal
Nepal, and the Kathmandu Valley in particular, has been a center of Buddhist art and learning for many centuries. Its stupas are part of everyday life, standing in courtyards and on street corners as well as on great hilltops and in the open squares of ancient cities.
Swayambhunath, Kathmandu
Swayambhunath, also called Swayambhu, stands on a hill on the western edge of Kathmandu and is widely regarded as one of the oldest and holiest Buddhist sites in the valley. Its name means the self-arisen, and a well-known legend tells how a lotus bloomed in the lake that once filled the valley, how a radiant form of the Buddha appeared on it, and how the bodhisattva Manjushri cut a gorge through the hills to drain the lake so that people could live there. The lotus is said to have settled on the hilltop, and the stupa rose where it came to rest. Historical records give a more measured account: a stone inscription records work ordered by King Vrsadeva in 640 CE, and the stupa was repaired, enlarged and renovated many times over the following centuries.
A long stairway leads up the eastern side of the hill, and the first thing a visitor meets at the top is a large vajra. The great white dome is crowned by a square harmika painted with the watchful eyes of the Buddha and a gilded spire of thirteen steps. Around it stand shrines, prayer wheels and smaller chaityas, including a temple to Hariti, a protector goddess who is said to guard the stupa and children. Monkeys live on the hill, and for that reason the site is nicknamed the Monkey Temple. Swayambhunath is sacred to both Newar and Tibetan Buddhists, and Hindus also revere the site, so it is often cited as an example of religious harmony in Nepal. It forms part of the Kathmandu Valley World Heritage property, inscribed by UNESCO in 1979.
Boudhanath, Kathmandu
Boudhanath, often called Boudha, is the largest stupa in Nepal and one of the largest in the world. It stands on the eastern side of Kathmandu and is a major center of Tibetan Buddhism. Its date is uncertain, and it is often placed around the fourteenth century, although legends offer other accounts of how it was built. After 1959, many Tibetans came to Nepal as refugees, and the area around the stupa grew into a lively community of monasteries, schools and homes, so that Boudhanath became one of the most important Tibetan Buddhist sites outside Tibet.
The stupa has a large white dome on a stepped base, a square harmika painted with the Buddha's eyes on all four sides, and a gilded tower of thirteen steps, topped by a parasol and a finial. Strings of prayer flags run from the top to the ground, and prayer wheels carved with the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum line the base. Pilgrims walk clockwise around it, a practice called kora, from early morning until late in the evening, and butter lamps burn around the dome. Losar, the Tibetan New Year, and other festivals bring large crowds. Boudhanath is also part of the Kathmandu Valley World Heritage property.
The Four Ashoka Stupas of Patan, Lalitpur
Around the old city of Patan, also known as Lalitpur, stand four large grass-covered stupas set at the four directions: Lagan Thura in the south, Teta Thura in the east, Pucho Thura in the west and Ibahi Thura in the north. Local tradition credits Emperor Ashoka with building them, in the third century BCE, during a visit to the valley with his daughter Charumati, who is said to have stayed on in Nepal. Historians and archaeologists regard the connection with Ashoka as a legend, and some suggest the stupas belong to the founding and early development of Patan itself. Whatever their origin, they are respected landmarks, and they show how closely the stupa is tied to the shape of the old city. Patan is also where our artisans work, so these stupas are close to home for us.
Namo Buddha, Kavrepalanchok
Namo Buddha is a hilltop pilgrimage site about fifty kilometers southeast of Kathmandu. It is known in Tibetan as Takmo Lüjin, which means the giving of the body to a tigress. According to a well-known Jataka story, the Buddha in an earlier life was a prince who found a starving tigress and her cubs and gave his own body to feed them. The site remembers this act of generosity and compassion. A stupa on the hilltop is said to hold relics, and a path through the woods leads to the place where the story is believed to have happened. A Buddhist monastery stands nearby, and pilgrims from many Tibetan Buddhist schools visit the site. The story is a traditional one, and the stupa is revered as an expression of the ideal of giving.
Ramagrama Stupa, Parasi
In the Terai plain of southern Nepal, about fifty kilometers east of Lumbini, stands Ramagrama, a grassy mound about ten meters high. According to Buddhist tradition, it is the only one of the original stupas built over the Buddha's relics that Emperor Ashoka did not open, and its core remains unexcavated. Archaeologists have dated the site between the Mauryan and Gupta periods, and Ramagrama has been on UNESCO's Tentative List for World Heritage since 1996, which is not the same as being inscribed on the World Heritage List. It has no marble or gilding, and visitors find a quiet, earthen mound with prayer flags and a Bodhi tree, where monks sometimes walk silent circuits. It is a reminder of what the earliest stupas may have looked like.
World Peace Pagoda, Pokhara
On a hill above Phewa Lake in Pokhara stands the World Peace Pagoda, a white stupa with golden Buddha images that looks out on the Annapurna range. It is a modern monument, one of many peace pagodas built around the world by the Japanese Buddhist movement Nipponzan Myohoji, and it shows how the stupa is still being built today as a symbol of peace and goodwill between peoples.
Famous Stupas Beyond Nepal
The stupa spread far beyond the Himalayas, and each region gave it its own form. These are some of the best known.
India
• The Great Stupa at Sanchi: One of the oldest and best-preserved Buddhist monuments in India. Its origins are linked with Emperor Ashoka in the third century BCE, and it was enlarged over later centuries. Its four carved stone gateways, called toranas, show scenes from Buddhist stories and early symbols such as the Bodhi tree and the wheel. Not everything at Sanchi dates from Ashoka's time, since the site grew over many centuries.
• The Dhamek Stupa, Sarnath: A massive cylindrical stupa at Sarnath, the place where the Buddha is said to have given his first teaching after enlightenment. Its stonework is decorated with geometric and floral patterns, and it is a good example of a stupa that does not look like a simple dome.
Sri Lanka
• Ruwanwelisaya, Anuradhapura: A great white dome associated with King Dutugemunu and one of the most revered stupas of Sri Lanka. It stands in a wide devotional precinct and is a major place of pilgrimage for Theravada Buddhists.
• Jetavanaramaya, Anuradhapura: A huge brick stupa from the ancient city of Anuradhapura, a reminder of the scale of Buddhist building under royal patronage in Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, stupas are known as dagobas.
Indonesia
• Borobudur, Central Java: A great Buddhist monument of the eighth and ninth centuries, built as a series of terraces, with carved reliefs, 72 perforated stupas on the upper round platforms and a large stupa at the center. It is best described as a monument built around a stupa, not as a single stupa, and its plan is read in connection with Buddhist ideas of the path to enlightenment.
Myanmar
• Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon: A gilded, bell-shaped monument surrounded by shrines, one of the most sacred places in Myanmar. Tradition connects it with relics of the Buddha. It is a living place of prayer and offering, where people walk around the central monument.
• Mingun Pahtodawgyi: An unfinished stupa begun by a Burmese king, which shows the scale of ambition behind great religious building.
Other Stupas Worth Knowing
The Shanti Stupa at Leh in Ladakh is a modern white peace stupa that overlooks the town, and it belongs to the same peace movement as the pagoda at Pokhara. Many other regions have their own well-known stupas, so this list is only a starting point.
The Stupa Through Time
These monuments belong to different periods, but together they show how the tradition grew. This is a broad overview, since stupa traditions developed differently in each region.
|
Period |
Development |
Example |
|
3rd century BCE |
Emperor Ashoka supports Buddhist monuments across India |
Sanchi |
|
1st century BCE to early centuries CE |
Railings, gateways and carved scenes are added |
Sanchi gateways |
|
5th to 9th centuries |
Regional forms develop in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Indonesia |
Swayambhunath, Borobudur |
|
Medieval period |
Himalayan and Tibetan stupas develop their own forms |
Tibetan chörtens |
|
20th and 21st centuries |
Restoration, pilgrimage and new peace monuments |
Boudhanath, World Peace Pagoda |
What Famous Stupas Have in Common
Despite their differences in shape and size, the great stupas share several features. They are places where people walk around the monument, usually clockwise, make offerings and pray. Many hold relics or are linked to the Buddha's life, and many are set in places that are beautiful in their own right, such as hills, lakeshores or old city centers. They also gather communities for festivals and everyday devotion, which is why many of these monuments are called living heritage and not only historical sites.
Caring for Famous Stupas: Earthquakes and Restoration
Because they stand in an earthquake-prone region and are used every day, the stupas of Nepal need constant care. The April 2015 earthquake damaged many monuments in the Kathmandu Valley. At Boudhanath, the large dome was mostly spared, but the gold spire was badly damaged. The restoration was led by local and foreign donors and volunteers, who raised more than two million dollars, with donors giving 31 kilograms of gold for the spire, and the stupa reopened in November 2016. At Swayambhunath, most monuments in the complex were damaged, and a committee, together with the Department of Archaeology and other partners, has restored many of them, including 19 structures by 2018, while some work has continued since.
Good conservation of living monuments has to protect not only the walls and domes but also the customs of those who use them. Tourism, traffic and the growth of the city can put pressure on these places, so visitors and communities share the responsibility to care for them.
Visiting Famous Stupas Respectfully
If you visit a stupa, a few general customs will help you take part with respect. These are customary suggestions, and local signs and the guidance of people at each site come first.
• Walk clockwise: Keep the stupa on your right as you walk around it.
• Dress modestly and be quiet: Many people come to pray, so keep your voice low and your clothing respectful.
• Do not climb or touch the monument: Stupas are sacred, so stay on the paths and do not step on the base or the offerings.
• Ask before taking photographs of people: Some people may not wish to be photographed while praying.
• Take care with monkeys and food: At sites such as Swayambhunath, monkeys live on the hill, so keep food out of sight and keep a safe distance.
Bring the Stupa Home
Many people who visit these monuments want a small stupa to keep at home, as a reminder of the Buddha's presence and a support for practice. We offer almost all types and sizes of stupa, handmade in Nepal, from small altar models to larger pieces and miniature pendants. You can read more about them in our other articles on the stupa.
Read more: What Is a Stupa? | What Is a Stupa Made Of? | How Is a Stupa Made?
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most famous stupa in Nepal?
The two best known are Swayambhunath and Boudhanath in Kathmandu. Swayambhunath is regarded as one of the oldest and is on a hill, and Boudhanath is the largest stupa in Nepal.
Which is older, Swayambhunath or Boudhanath?
Swayambhunath is generally regarded as the older. A stone inscription records work on it in 640 CE, while Boudhanath is often dated to about the fourteenth century, although traditions differ.
Why is Swayambhunath called the Monkey Temple?
Because monkeys live on the hill around the stupa.
What do the eyes on Nepalese stupas mean?
They are usually explained as the all-seeing wisdom and compassion of the Buddha, looking out in the four directions.
Did Emperor Ashoka really build the stupas of Patan?
Local tradition says so, but historians treat the connection as a legend. The stupas are ancient and highly respected, whatever their exact origin.
Where is the Buddha's birthplace, and is there a stupa there?
The Buddha was born at Lumbini in Nepal. Ramagrama, in the same region, is a stupa associated with one of the original portions of his relics.
Are the famous stupas damaged by earthquakes?
Yes, the 2015 earthquake damaged many of them, including the spire of Boudhanath. Many have since been restored.
Can I visit these stupas?
Yes. Most are open to visitors, and they are living places of worship, so visitors are asked to behave with respect.
Explore Our Stupas
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