STŪPA AND ITS TECHNOLOGY A TIBETO-BUDDHIST PERSPECTIVE

PEMA DORJEE

Foreword by M. C. Joshi

2001, xxxiv+189pp. plates, drawings, append, bibl., index. ISBN: 81-203-1301-4: Rs 550 (HB)

Among all the religious monuments of the world, the stūpa has the longest uninterrupted historical development. Though modelled after the Indian prototype, the stūpa architecture was developed in all the countries where Buddhism had flourished. Over time, the structural shape of the stūpa underwent significant modifications in India and in other Asian Buddhist countries.

The present study shows how Tibet became a treasure house of Buddhist culture highlighting important texts dealing with stūpa architecture. Various ritual activities associated with the construction of the stūpa are described along with the eight fundamental types of Tibeto-Buddhist stūpas and their main structural components. The value of the book is enhanced by appending the transliteration and English translation of four important Tibetan texts.