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Miniature stupa
Miniature stupa

Miniature stupa

Place of Origin
  • Pakistan
Dateapprox. 100-150
MaterialsStone (schist)
DimensionsH. 18 cm x Diam. 9.8 cm, H. 7 1/16 in x Diam. 3 7/8 in
Credit LineGift of Milla L. Handley and Raymond G. Handley
Object number1999.49.a-.c
DepartmentSouth Asian Art
ClassificationsSculpture
On View
On view
LocationGallery 1
Inscribed"In the fifty-seventh--157th--year, in the month Prausthapada, on the 1st (day), the nun Utaraya establishes a relic of the Lord in the Kharavala Great Forest Monastery in order to honor mother and father."
Subject
  • stupa
More Information

An inscription suggests the importance of women as supporters of the Buddha’s message:

[In] the year 57, in the month Protha, the nun Utaraya establishes the relics of the Blessed One [the Buddha] in the Grove [or Monastery] of the Forest of Kharavala, in honor of her mother and father. (Translated by Richard Salomon.)

 

The inscription also points to a key aspect of Buddhist practice: in many communities one way of earning merit was to honor one’s parents through the creation of pious memorials like this.