The Buddhist (and Jain) hemispherical mound built to enshrine relics of the Buddha or a saint, one of the earliest forms of Indian monumental architecture, with a standard set of named parts.
- Core form: a solid dome (anda) representing the cosmic mountain, topped by a square railing (harmika) and a mast bearing tiered umbrellas (yashti and chhatra) symbolising honour and the cosmic axis.
- It is enclosed by a railing (vedika) with gateways (toranas) at the four cardinal directions; a raised path (medhi) allows ritual circumambulation (pradakshina) clockwise.
- Ashoka is traditionally said to have built 84,000 stupas and to have redistributed the Buddha's relics; the great stupa at Sanchi (Madhya Pradesh) was begun under him.
- The Sanchi toranas carry rich relief sculpture of Jataka scenes; Bharhut (Madhya Pradesh) is another early railing-and-gateway stupa site.
- Amaravati (Andhra) was a great stupa of the Satavahana period with white-marble carved panels; the Dhamek stupa at Sarnath marks the Buddha's first sermon.
- The stupa form spread across Asia, evolving into the pagoda of East Asia and the dagoba of Sri Lanka.
Stupa vocabulary (anda, harmika, yashti, chhatra, vedika, torana, medhi), Sanchi and Bharhut as Ashokan-era sites, Amaravati (Satavahana, marble) and Sarnath (first sermon) are recurring art-history points.
The torana is the gateway and the vedika the railing; the anda is the dome and the harmika the railing on top; Sanchi (Ashokan beginnings, carved toranas) is distinct from Amaravati (Satavahana, white marble, southern).
Relic mound with anda, harmika, chhatra, vedika and toranas; Sanchi and Bharhut (Ashokan era), Amaravati (Satavahana), Sarnath (first sermon).