The New International Encyclopædia/Tope (monument)

TOPE (Hind. tōp, from Pali, Prak. thūpa, from Skt. stūpa, mound, accumulation). The vernacular name of Buddhistic monuments intended for the preservation of relics. In Ceylon and elsewhere they are also called dagops; and another of their designations is chaitya. Tope is the name of those monuments in regard to their shape; dagop, in regard to their purpose; and chaitya the general term. Technically, the stupa is a form of tope which does not contain a relic, but is merely a memorial. The oldest topes are in the shape of cupolas, generally spherical, but sometimes elliptical, resting on a cylindrical or quadrangular or polygonal base, which rises either in a straight or inclined line, or in terraces. The top of the cupola, surrounded by a balcony of pillars of a peculiar kind, is crowned by a structure generally quadrangular, but sometimes in the shape of a reversed pyramid of a few steps; and over this structure is a roof in the shape of an extended parasol. The cupola was sometimes ornamented with more than one parasol; in some of the topes of Sanchi there are three, and even five parasols side by side, the middle one exceeding the others in height. The different arrangement of these parasols, especially when their number increased, led to a different shape of the topes, such as occurs, for instance, in China and Tibet. This arrangement consists in placing them one over the other; and not only three or five, but even seven, nine, or more are so placed, and the topes, instead of having the character of cupolas, now assumed that of pyramids resting on a cupola base, the parasols gradually giving way to a real pyramidal form. In some monuments of this class, however, the cupola was placed above, when the base consists of round or quadrangular towers rising in a spiral form, or in several stories. The Chinese, on the contrary, rejected the cupola altogether, and merely retained the succession of parasols extended one over the other, converting them into a many-storied tower; and the same is the case with the topes of the Mongols, the ssuvurghans, which are pyramids erected on a low quadrangular base. The top of the pyramidal topes always carries some metal ornament, frequently gilt, resembling a parasol, or a needle, or a trident, or a rising flame. The height of these buildings varies from a few feet to 300 and even more. If erected in cave-temples the tope generally stands at the end of a long hall especially cut out for it, but sometimes also in the sanctuary of the cave-temple itself; if erected overground it stands always in the vicinity of a temple or convent.

In the interior of the tope is the cell or chamber (dhȧtugarbha) where the box containing the relics and the ‘seven precious things’ was placed. These seven precious things are differently enumerated; according to one account they are gold, silver, lapis lazuli, crystal, red pearl, diamond, and coral; others mention ruby and emerald; and others again omit gold and silver. In several cells which have been opened the box contained, besides the relics, precious stones of various kinds, golden ornaments, and coins; and the box itself generally consisted of an outer casement of stone, clay, or bronze, which inclosed a silver cylinder, and within this a golden cylinder, which was the real receptacle of the relics. Both cylinders had generally a convex lid, representing the shape of the cupola, and the box exhibited inscriptions commemorating the name of the saint to whom the ashes or other relics contained in it had belonged. It seems that there are also topes which had the relics placed, not within, but under them. The cupola of the topes was intended to represent the water-bubble, the Buddhistic symbol of the hollowness and perishability of the world, while the parasol of the topes was intended to imply the royal dignity possessed by a Buddhistic saint. When the topes became pyramids or towers consisting of terraces and stories, the number of the latter had likewise a symbolical import. Thus, only the topes of the most accomplished Buddhas had thirteen terraces, to show that these Buddhas had passed beyond the twelve causes of existence; three terraces imply the three worlds—the world of desire, that of form, and that of absence of form; five, the five steps of Mount Meru; and so on.

The most important is the Bhilsa group in Central India, of which the most famous is the Sanchi Stupa, and near it are two minor groups, at Sonari and Satdhara. In Bengal is that of Sarnath, one hundred and twenty-eight feet high. The great tope at Amravati is the most interesting for the wealth and beauty of its sculptures. Others are at Gandhara, Telelabad, and Menikalya. The sculptured rails are described under Indian Art. See Koeppen, Die Religion des Buddha (Berlin, 1857); Fergusson, History of Indian and Eastern Architecture (London, 1876).