263 - Chaitya (stupa) made of gilded copper alloy, Nepal, 18th century

Chaitya (stupa) made of gilded copper alloy, Nepal, 18th century The votive reliquary rests on a double base shaped like lotus petals. Surrounding the anda, a hemispherical dome, are depictions of the four celestial Buddhas associated with the four cardinal directions. To the east: Akshobhya—recognizable by his gesture of invoking the earth as a witness (bhūmisparśa mudrā). To the south: Ratnasambhava—associated with the gesture of giving or generosity (varada mudrā). To the west: Amitābha—depicted in the meditation posture (dhyāna mudrā). To the north: Amoghasiddhi—identified by the gesture of fearlessness and protection (abhaya mudrā). At the geometric center of the stupa resides the fifth Buddha of the pentad: Vairocana. Although invisible inside the solid dome, his central presence serves as the pivot around which the entire monument is organized. The harmika, a small square located above the anda, is engraved on all four sides with a pair of eyes. It is surmounted by a thirteen-tiered spire symbolizing the stages of purification that the mind must pass through to attain Enlightenment, and atop which rests the final square, molded canopy evoking spiritual protection. Height: 16.5 cm Publication: Alexander W. Macdonald and Anne Vergati Stahl, *Newar Art: Nepalese Art During the Malla Period*, 1979, p. 80, no. 63.