TOPE is 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 desig nations is chaitya. The difference between these terms results from their meaning. Tope is the Pali thilpa, and the Sanskrit stapa ' • it means, therefore, literally "accumulation," and conveys a sense analogous to that of the Latin tumulus. Dagop is a corruption of i.e., relic-preserver; and chaitya applies generally to objects of worship, as images, temples, sacred trees, etc. lope is, therefore, the name of those monuments in regard to their shape; dagop, in regard to their purpose; and chaitya the general term. Though the shape of the topes underwent many changes according to time and locality, it is possible to distinguish its oldest type from its later development. The oldest topes. are in the shape of cupolas, generally spherical, but sometimes elliptical, resting on a cyl indrical 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 (Sanskrit, chhattra; in Pali, chatta). This was the form, for instance, of the topes of Sanchi, of the dagops of Ceylon, and the oldest monuments of this kind in the Punjab and Afghanistan ;though in most of them the parasol, being of wood, is either completely destroyed, or merely recognizable in its fragmentary condi tion (see art. BUDDHISM, where, in the section of the cave temple at Karli, the tope is seen still surmounted by the wooden umbrella). 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 rest 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 Thibet. 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. The height of the structure thus became naturally greater than it originally was, 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 in 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 para sol, 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; there are also topes of a few inches only, but they serve merely as ornaments in temples or buildings, or as symbols of the real topes. 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 it stands always in the vicinity of a temple or convent. In the interior of the tope is the cell or chamber (dhiltugarbka) where the box containing the relics and " the seven precious things" was placed. This cell consists of six slabs of
stone, firmly closed after the box with the relics, etc., had been placed in it; and it was immured into the tope after its structure had, in the course of building, attained a cer tain height; the building then being brought to its completion, so that the cell enshrining the relic was inclosed on all sides with solid brickwork. The "seven precious things" referred to, with which the relics were ornamented, are differently enumerated; accord ing 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 con sisted 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 bad 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—or, in other words, in the ground on which they were erected; for, in some which were opened, neither a cell nor any relic was found; and though it is possible that such monuments were merely erected in commem oration of some personage, there are, on the other hand, accounts which relate that relics were also placed under the dagops. these accounts be correct it is at present impossible to say, as no foundation on which such dagops stand has as yet been explored. It has been supposed by some authors that the topes contained some secret passage leading to the relic-cell, known only to the priests or the initiated, who thus might gain access to the relics; for legends relate that during night such relics occasion ally shed light, and that some pious king was deigned worthy of being favored with their sight; but none of the topes hitherto explored—and some of these are of the great est dimensions—yielded any confirmation of this theory: they proved to be nothing but solid masses of brick and stone, without any chambers or passages—merely containing the relic-cell, of generally one foot in diameter. That the cupola of the topes was intended to represent the water-bubble, the Buddhistic symbol of the hollowness and perishability of the world is borne out by a legend in the allandrans'a (q.v.) The pur port of the parasol may seem more doubtful; but as the parasol is the emblem of Hindu royalty, and as S'akyamuni, himself the son of a king, replied to the question how he wished to be buried, by answering: " Like an emperor," it is not unlikely that the para sol 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 time 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.—See C. F. Koeppen, Die Religion des Buddha (Berlin, 1857), vol. i, p. 533, ff., and the works quoted there.