reliquary in crystal, excavated in 1851 from stupa near Sanchi, one of the most important early Buddhist sites in India. The crystal reliquary contained minute bone fragments. Its shape, including the umbrella finial, resembles that of a full-size stupa. Buddhists deposited the remains of venerated teachers in reliquaries and then enshrined them in large hemispherical mounds called stupas.

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Photo credit: © World History Archive / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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Keywords: 19th, archival, archive, ashes, bone, buddhism, buddhist, burial, buried, century, crystal, dead, death, fragment, historical, history, india, indian, reliquary, resembling, sanchi, stupa