Chaukhandi Stupa

Chaukhandi Stupa
Chaukhandi Stupa
Shown within India
Basic information
Location	India
Geographic coordinates	25°22′27″N 83°01′25″E / 25.374102°N 83.023658°E / 25.374102; 83.023658Coordinates: 25°22′27″N 83°01′25″E / 25.374102°N 83.023658°E / 25.374102; 83.023658
Affiliation	Buddhism
State	Uttar Pradesh
Status	Preserved

Chaukhandi Stupa is an important Buddhist stupa in Sarnath, located 13 kilometres from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. Stupas are descendents of burial mounds and serve as a shrine for a relic of the Buddha.^[1]

History

The Chaukhandi Stupa is thought originally to have been built as a terraced temple during the Gupta period between the 4th to 6th Century to mark the site where Lord Buddha and his first disciples met traveling from Bodh Gaya to Sarnath. Later Govardhan, the son of a Raja, modified the stupa to its present shape by building the octagonal tower to commemorate the visit of Humayun, the powerful Mughal ruler.^[2]

Today the stupa is a high earthen mound covered with a brickwork edifice topped by an octagonal tower. It is maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India.

See also

• Dhamek Stupa
• Sarnath
• List of Buddhist temples

Reference notes

1. ^ "History of Architecture - Shrines and temples". historyworld.net. http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=1526&HistoryID=ab27. Retrieved 2006-12-18. 
2. ^ "Chaukhandi Stupa". Varanasicity.com. http://www.varanasicity.com/sarnath/chaukhandi-stupa.html. Retrieved 2006-10-16. 

External links

• Sarnath

Various plinths at the Chaukhandi Stupa

Close up of Chaukhandi Stupa plinth