cover image: The Story of the Stūpa

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The Story of the Stūpa

1936

As a symbol of authority and power the umbrella first appears in the mural paintings of the Ancient Egyptians and later in the bas-reliefs of the Assyrians. [...] In the earliest Buddhist sculptures the umbrella is reserved exclusively as a mark of distinction for the monarchs or princes portrayed in the bas-reliefs except where it appears in the service of religion when it is used as a means of denoting the presence of the Buddha. [...] The worship of the Earth Goddess probably came in with the advance in civilization which taught men that the earth was fruitful if tilled and possibly the transition from the excavated tomb period to the age when the burial-urns began to be used marks a change from a pastoral life to one of agriculture and from a belief in the powers for good and evil of the spirits of the dead to one in which t [...] The king then dedicated his state umbrella to the stupa exclaiming with joy : " Thrice over do I dedicate my kingdom to the redeemer of the world the divine teacher the bearer of the triplcanopy the canopy of the heavenly host the canopy of mortals and the canopy of eternal emancipation." The king then permitted his royal umbrella to remain on the summit of the stfipa for seven days whe [...] At this time when only the plastering of the dome and the fixing of the permanent umbrella on top of the tee remained to be done the king fell sick and as he was on the point of death he enjoined his young brother Tissa to complete the great work.
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Segment Pages Author Actions
Frontmatter
i-vi A. H. Longhurst view
Chapter I The Umbrella as a Symbol of Religious Sovereignty
1-11 A. H. Longhurst view
Chapter II The Evolution of the Stūpa
12-28 A. H. Longhurst view
Chapter III Kerala Architecture
29-40 A. H. Longhurst view
Chapter IV Himalayan Architecture
41-54 A. H. Longhurst view
Backmatter
i-xlii A. H. Longhurst view

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