Tuesday March 17th, 2009. Posted by Alex:
Stupa with wow factor!
It’s time to be cheerful. I came across this picture of a stupa in, I think, eastern Tibet:
Wow!
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what’s a stupa?
Stupas, also known as chortens, are “the” Buddhist monument, particularly but not exclusively in the Tibetan field. Part reliquary, part cosmic diagram, the square base is earth, on that the “sphere” (or blob) of water, the cone of fire, bow of air and finally the quivering flame of space.
More often they are either plain white or have more sober decoration than this one. Sometimes you see rows of eight outside a temple. Usually they are smaller than this one, too!
Kathmandu has two particularly well known ones. The most photographable is Swyambhu, which has copper rings on the cone and overlooks the city from a great height. The other, actually considered more sacred and larger is at Baudha. Read about them at http://tinyurl.com/dmuamp.
Didn’t I ever give you a copy of Benchen and Back? There is a stupa on the front.