stupa

A Buddhist memorial mound erected to enshrine a relic of Buddha and to commemorate some event or mark a sacred spot. Modeled on a funerary tumulus, it consists of an artificial dome-shaped mound raised on a platform, surrounded by an outer ambulatory with a stone vedika and four toranas, and crowned by a chattri. The name for the stupa in Ceylon is dagoba, and in Tibet and Nepal, chorten.