Question

What are stupas? Mention some of their striking features.

Answer 1

Hint: Stupas are used as a place for meditation. Chaitya is also a related architectural term which is a temple containing a stupa or a prayer hall.

Complete answer: Stupas are basically in the shape of a hemisphere or mound-like in structure and they contain relics. By relics what is meant is the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. A stupa is used as a place for meditation.
Stupas are known for having a pradakshina path around them and in Buddism circumambulation or pradakshina has always been an important ritual or devotional practice since the early times.
Buddha is symbolised by the shape of the stupa who is crowned and sitting in meditation posture on a lion throne. The stupa may even be representative of the five purified elements i.e the square base that represents the earth, the hemispherical dome that represents water, the conical spire representing fire, the upper lotus parasol and the crescent moon is said to represent air and finally the sun and the dissolving point which represents wisdom.
Dharma transmission and ceremonies known to a Buddhist teacher are necessary to build a stupa. A treasury filled with various objects is present in all stupas. A wooden pole covered with gems and thousands of mantras is called the ‘Tree of Life’ and it is an important element in every stupa. Building a stupa is thought to be very beneficial.

Note: The $8^{th}$ century Borobudur monument in Java, Indonesia is the most elaborate stupa to have been ever built. One of the largest and holy stupas is the Shwedagon Stupa in Yangon, Myanmar.