Buddhist Stupa – Kadam Chorten

The Kadam Style Stupa is distinguished by a simple but traditional top with a parasol and thirteen falling discs. A square balcony-like structure with a round bell-shaped bottom is placed in the center, all of which is above around double lotus foundation.

Kadam stupas are commonly used as reliquaries. Some include only connected articles, while others contain the ashes of a lama or other renowned person. They frequently contain numerous kinds of treasure, ranging from amber and coral to money and robe remnants from lamas. Some stupas even include the dharma itself, with passages from sutras and remnants of artwork.

Kadam stupas, like other stupas and ritual images, go through consecration procedures regardless of their content. The stupas are enlivened by the presence of an enlightened being during these ceremonies. Kadam stupas are thus thought to embody a Buddha, both literally and intellectually, in addition to containing the dharma.

As a result, Kadam stupas can stand in for larger, architectural stupas. Kadam stupas, like all Tibetan stupas, amplify the omnipresence of a Buddha, creating a room filled with enlightened energy. During the consecration process, the enlightened presence is invited to remain within the stupa for the benefit of all sentient beings, creating this sacred sanctuary.

The stupa’s shape emphasizes this holiness even further. The design of the Kadam stupa reflects the very heart intellect of an enlightened presence. All Tibetan stupas, in fact, exude this energy.

They are depictions of Mt. Meru, the internal world system of all who seek enlightenment, and thus enlightenment itself. All stupas, by extension, represent the mandala, the palace at the summit of Mt. Meru where the transcendent Buddhas live. As a result, all stupas, particularly Kadam stupas, invoke the sacred place of enlightenment by their form as well as their consecration.

As a result, each deed performed near a stupa, no matter how small, is considered to be accomplished near a Buddha and is multiplied tenfold. Kadam stupas, like colossal stupas, are objects of ceremonial devotion.

Because most Kadam stupas are portable, they are frequently revered when traveling, such as en route to pilgrimage places, when gigantic stupas are not available.

Kadam stupas, on the other hand, are distinguishable from other stupas not by their size or portability, but by their shape. Although Kadam stupas share the same fundamental parts as stupas in general, these pieces are arranged differently. The overall bell-like shape of this stupa style is perhaps the most clearly known aspect.

The lotus-form top piece, the pancaratha-form or stepped harmika, the conical arrangement of thirteen bhumis surrounding a central axis, and the row of doubled lotus petals at the base are other key aspects.

Origin of Kadam Stupas

This style originated in ancient India. It is based on a stupa brought to Tibet by Atisa, the renowned teacher of Buddhist doctrine’s second promulgation. The stupa is, in fact, one of his characteristics.

As the name “Kadam” indicates, these stupas are still most strongly associated with this sect. At the Netong Drolma Lhakhuang monastery, where Atisa died in 1054, relics of both Atisa and Dromdon are placed within huge Kadam stupas.

Representation of Kadam Stupas

Kadam stupas have had the same sacred form from at least the period of Atisa. Enlightenment is reaffirmed in this form through several layers of significance.

Kadam stupas are thus more than just reliquaries. As reliquaries, they only serve to honor great people. Stupas, on the other hand, invoke the Buddha’s heart mind.

The concept that all sentient beings are potential Buddhas and hold the seed of enlightenment is reinforced by this dual mission. Kadam stupas, like Tibetan art in general, function as mirrors into the heart and mind.

Stupa (Buddhist Reliquary) – Metal

This stupa is from a private collection. The origin of this stupa is in Tibet. The material used to make this stupa is metal. This stupa is from a Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Tibet
Material	Metal
Lineage	Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Private

Stupa (Buddhist Reliquary)

This stupa is from a private collection. The material used to make this stupa is metal. This stupa is from a Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Material	Metal
Lineage	Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Private

Buddhist Stupa from Tibet

This stupa is from a private collection. The origin of this stupa is in Tibet. The material used to make this stupa is Bronze. This stupa is from a Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Tibet
Material	Bronze
Lineage	Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Private

Stupa (Buddhist Reliquary) – Bronze

This stupa is from a private collection. The origin of this stupa is in Tibet. The material used to make this stupa is Bronze. This stupa is from a Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Tibet
Material	Bronze
Lineage	Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Private

Buddhist Stupa from Private collection

This stupa is from a private collection. The material used to make this stupa is Metal. This stupa is from a Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Material	Metal
Lineage	Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Private

Stupa from Tibet

This stupa is from a private collection. The origin of this stupa is in Tibet. The material used to make this stupa is Metal. This stupa is from a Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Tibet
Material	Metal
Lineage	Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Private

Stupa from Private Collection

This stupa is from a private collection. This stupa is from a Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Lineage	Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Private

Stupa (Buddhist Reliquary) from Tibet

This stupa is from a collection of The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology. The origin of this stupa is in Tibet. This stupa is from a Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Tibet
Lineage	Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology

Buddhist Stupa from The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology

This stupa is from a collection of The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology. The origin of this stupa is in Tibet. The material used to make this stupa is Bronze. This stupa is from a Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Tibet
Material	Bronze
Lineage	Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology

18th Century Buddhist Stupa

This stupa is from a collection of the Zanabazar Museum of Fine Arts. The origin of this stupa is between 1800-1899 in Mongolia. The material used to make this stupa is Metal.

This stupa is from a Gelug lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Mongolia
Date Range	1800-1899
Material	Metal
Lineage	Gelug
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Zanabazar Museum of Fine Arts

Stupa (Buddhist Reliquary) from Mongolia

This stupa is from a collection of the Zanabazar Museum of Fine Arts. The origin of this stupa is between 1800-1899 in Mongolia. The material used to make this stupa is Metal.

This stupa is from a Gelug lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Mongolia
Date Range	1800-1899
Material	Metal
Lineage	Gelug
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Zanabazar Museum of Fine Arts

Buddhist Stupa from Margot and Tom Pritzker Collection

This stupa is from a collection of Margot and Tom Pritzker. The origin of this stupa is in Tibet. The material used to make this stupa is Metal. This stupa is from a Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Tibet
Material	Metal
Lineage	Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Margot and Tom Pritzker

Stupa (Buddhist Reliquary) from Private Collection

This stupa is from a private collection. The origin of this stupa is in Tibet. This stupa is from a Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Tibet
Lineage	Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Private

Buddhist Stupa from Dallas Museum of Art

This stupa is from a collection of the Dallas Museum of Art. The origin of this stupa is in Tibet. The material used to make this stupa is Metal. This stupa is from a Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Tibet
Material	Metal
Lineage	Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Dallas Museum of Art

16th Century Buddhist Stupa

This stupa is from a collection of the Rubin Museum of Art. The origin of this stupa is between 1600-1699 in Tibet. The material used to make this stupa is Metal.

This stupa is from a Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Tibet
Date Range	1600-1699
Material	Metal
Lineage	Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Rubin Museum of Art

Buddhist Stupa from Rubin Museum of Art

This stupa is from a collection of Rubin Museum of Art. The origin of this stupa is in Tibet. The material used to make this stupa is Metal.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Tibet
Material	Metal
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Rubin Museum of Art

Statue of Buddhist Stupa

This stupa is from a private collection. This stupa is from a Kadam and Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Lineage	Kadam and Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Private

Buddhist Stupa

This stupa is from a private collection.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Private

Buddhist Stupa from Tibet House Museum, New Delhi

This stupa is from a collection of Tibet House Museum, New Delhi. The origin of this stupa is in Tibet. The material used to make this stupa is Bronze.

This stupa is from a Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Tibet
Material	Bronze
Lineage	Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Tibet House Museum, New Delhi

Buddhist Stupa – Bronze

This stupa is from a collection of Tibet House Museum, New Delhi. The origin of this stupa is in Tibet. The material used to make this stupa is Bronze.

This stupa is from a Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Tibet
Material	Bronze
Lineage	Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Tibet House Museum, New Delhi

Buddhist Stupa Statue

This stupa is from a collection of Tibet House Museum, New Delhi. The origin of this stupa is in Tibet. The material used to make this stupa is Bronze.

This stupa is from a Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Tibet
Material	Bronze
Lineage	Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Tibet House Museum, New Delhi

Buddhist Stupa Statue from Tibetan House Museum, New Delhi

This stupa is from a collection of Tibet House Museum, New Delhi. The origin of this stupa is in Tibet. The material used to make this stupa is Bronze.

This stupa is from a Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Tibet
Material	Bronze
Lineage	Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Tibet House Museum, New Delhi

Buddhist Stupa Statue from Private Collection

This stupa is from a Private collection. The origin of this stupa is in Tibet. The material used to make this stupa is Bronze.

This stupa is from a Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Tibet
Material	Bronze
Lineage	Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Private

Stupa (Buddhist Reliquary) – Crystal

This stupa is from a collection of Bachmann and Eckenstein. The origin of this stupa is in Tibet. The material used to make this stupa is stone.

This stupa is from a Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Tibet
Material	Stone
Lineage	Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Bachmann and Eckenstein

Stupa (Buddhist Reliquary) from Bachmann and Eckenstein Collection

This stupa is from a collection of Bachmann and Eckenstein. The origin of this stupa is in Tibet. The material used to make this stupa is Bronze.

This stupa is from a Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Tibet
Material	Bronze
Lineage	Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Bachmann and Eckenstein

Buddhist Stupa from Bachmann and Eckenstein

This stupa is from a collection of Bachmann and Eckenstein. The origin of this stupa is in Tibet. The material used to make this stupa is Bronze.

This stupa is from a Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Tibet
Material	Bronze
Lineage	Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Bachmann and Eckenstein

11th Century Buddhist Stupa

This stupa is from a collection of The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art. The origin of this stupa is between 1100-1199 in Tibet. The material used to make this stupa is Bronze.

This stupa is from a Kadam and Buddhist lineage. The size of this stupa is 24cm (9.45in) high.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Tibet
Date Range	1100-1199
Material	Bronze
size	24cm (9.45in) high
Lineage	Kadam and Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art

Buddhist Stupa from Newark Museum

This stupa is from a collection of the Newark Museum. The origin of this stupa is between 1600-1699 in Tibet. The material used to make this stupa is Metal.

This stupa is from a Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Tibet
Date Range	1600-1699
Material	Metal
Lineage	Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Newark Museum

Stupa (Buddhist Reliquary) from Newark Museum

This stupa is from a collection of the Newark Museum. The origin of this stupa is between 1600-1699 in Tibet. The material used to make this stupa is Metal.

This stupa is from a Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Tibet
Date Range	1600-1699
Material	Metal
Lineage	Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Newark Museum

Buddhist Stupa from Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art Collection

This stupa is from a collection of the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art. The origin of this stupa is in Tibet. The material used to make this stupa is Metal.

This stupa is from a Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Tibet
Material	Metal
Lineage	Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art

Stupa (Buddhist Reliquary) from Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art

This stupa is from a collection of the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art. The origin of this stupa is in Tibet. The material used to make this stupa is Metal.

This stupa is from a Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Tibet
Material	Metal
Lineage	Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art

Stupa Statue from Private Collection

This stupa is from a Private collection. The origin of this stupa is in Tibet.

This stupa is from a Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Tibet
Lineage	Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Private

Buddhist Reliquary from Private Collection

This stupa is from a Private collection. The origin of this stupa is in Tibet. The material used to make this stupa is Metal.

This stupa is from a Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Tibet
Material	Metal
Lineage	Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Private

Buddhist Reliquary – Metal

This stupa is from a Private collection. The origin of this stupa is in Tibet.

This stupa is from a Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Tibet
Lineage	Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Private

17th Century Buddhist Stupa

his stupa is from a collection of the Rubin Museum of Art. The origin of this stupa is between 1700-1799 in Tibet. The material used to make this stupa is Metal.

This stupa is from a Buddhist lineage.

Name	Stupa
Tibetan Name	མཆོད་རྟེན།
Chinese Name	佛塔
Origin	Tibet
Date Range	1700-1799
Material	Metal
Lineage	Buddhist
classification	Object/Concept
Collection	Rubin Museum of Art