stupa, chedi

A Buddhist mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics, originally from the Buddha or from Buddhist monks or nuns, in modern times the remains of distinguished departed people, where one can come to meditate.

Thought to be derived from the ancient ritual of building tumuli, the stupa was designed to allow circumambulation [pradakhshina] around the structure, as seen until these days at Shewanagon Pagoda (Myanmar), the Abayagiri Dageba (Sri Lanka) or Borobodur Temple (Indonesia).

In Cambodia, royal stupas in pagodas (Oudong, Wat Ounalom, Wat Phnom...) and at the Royal Palace (Kantha Boppha chedi, King Suramarit...) have a distinctive style, different from Thai cedyis. In Khmer, the word originally meant "sign" [of a sacred place], and went to refer only to a structure containing relics.