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Last edited November 24, 2023


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Chaukhandi Stupa is a Buddhist stupa in Sarnath located 8 kilometres from Cantt Railway Station in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. Stupas have evolved from burial mounds and serve as a shrine for a relic of the Buddha.[1] The site was declared to be a monument of national importance by the Archaeological Survey of India in June 2019.[2]

History

The Chaukhandi Stupa is thought originally to have been built as a terraced temple during the 4th and 6th centuries to mark the site where Buddha and his first disciples met traveling from Bodh Gaya to Sarnath. Later Govardhan, the son of a Raja Todar Mal, modified the stupa to its present shape by building the octagonal tower to commemorate the visit of Humayun, the Mughal ruler.[3]

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.

File:Chaukhandi Stupa-5.jpg
Various plinths at the Chaukhandi Stupa
File:Chaukhandi Stupa-4.jpg
Close up of Chaukhandi Stupa plinth

See also

Reference notes

  1. History of Architecture - Shrines and temples. historyworld.net.
  2. Chaukhandi Stupa declared to be "of national importance". The Hindu(2019-06-09). Retrieved 2019-06-09.
  3. Chaukhandi Stupa. Varanasicity.com.


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