Stupa Worship
STUPA WORSHIP. The Sanskrit term stūpa first occurs in the Vedas, where it conveys the meaning "knot of hair, top," or "summit." It is unclear how the term came to be used by Buddhists to refer to the mounds erected over the relics of Śākyamuni Buddha, but this usage can be traced back to early Buddhism, as can the practice of worship at stupas. The Jains too built stupas, but these postdate the earliest Buddhist structures. The terms thūpa (thūba) and dhātugabbha (Skt., dhātugarbha) are attested in Pali sources. This latter term derives from references to the Buddha's relics as a dhātu ("element") and to the dome or "egg" (aṇḍa) of the stupa as a garbha ("womb" or "treasury").
According to the Mahāparinibbāna Suttanta, after Śākyamuni Buddha achieved final nirvāṇa his body was cremated and stupas were erected to receive his remains. Śākyamuni's cremation and the installation of his relics in stupas are probably historical facts. The early Buddhists erected stupas because they believed that Śākyamuni had freed himself from the cycles of birth and death. Had Śākyamuni died and remained within those cycles it would have been pointless to build a stupa for him, for not only would the place of his rebirth be unknown, but one could not have expected him to act on the requests of his believers.
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