In the interior of the tope is the cell or chamber (dhatugarolm ) where the box contain ing the relics and the 'seven precious things' was placed. These seven precious things are differ ently 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 gold en 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 perishahility 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 Bud dhas 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 interest ing for the wealth and beauty of its sculptures. Others are at Gandhara, Telelabad, and Menikal ya. The sculptured rails are described under INDIAN ART. See Koeppel], Die Religion des Buddha (Berlin, 1857) ; Fergusson, History of Indian and Eastern Arelritecture (London, 1876).