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ABSTRACT
The physical organization and layout of Buddhist reliquary mounds, stupas, provides a window into the forms of ritual practiced by Buddhists in the first few centuries B.C. through the end of the second century A.D. Specifically, the manner in which stupas were architecturally presented informs upon the differences in ritual presentation by the clergy and the laity. Attempts by the Buddhist clergy to direct worship and establish a privileged position in regard to the Buddha were resisted by the laity; in contrast, the laity attempted to preserve the egalitarian aspects of Buddhism. Traces of the laity's resistance can be identified in the architectural layouts of ritual spaces of the early Buddhists. The organization of ritual within stupa complexes also illustrates the methods used by early Buddhists to foster group cohesion within a highly individualistic religious tradition. KEYWORDS: Buddhism, ritual, architecture, presentation, stupas.
FROM THE FIRST CENTURY B.C. THROUGH THE SECOND CENTURY A.D., South Asian Buddhists focused much of their ritual and worship upon stone or brick mounds, stupas, containing the relics of the Buddha. Some stupas were found in large, open-air complexes that were the focus of pilgrimage by the Buddhist laity. Other smaller stupas were located within the worship halls, chaityas, of Buddhist monasteries carved into the sides of cliffs. In each case, the people who created these temples had to decide how to present the stupa for worship. In both cases, the designers had to accommodate the highly individualistic nature of Buddhist worship while attempting to provide mechanisms to foster group cohesion within the developing Buddhist community. Monks designed their own ritual spaces with the goal of allowing for the mediation of worship by ritual specialists. In contrast, stupa complexes frequented by the laity were designed in a way that effectively limited the potential for ritual leaders and promoted a more egalitarian, spontaneous form of group worship. Further, the architectural layout of the different stupa complexes suggests that the laity, not the monks, were most interested in individual, meditative ritual. These conclusions stand in marked contrast to traditional discussions of early Buddhism derived from textual sources, which date from later periods.
In this paper, the architectural plans of 13 Buddhist stupa complexes of the first century b.c. through the second century...