Stupa of Complete Victory
The main body of the stupa is characterized by three circular steps, symbolizing the prolongation of the Buddha's life by three months, at the request of his disciples.
This stupa commemorates the Buddha’s prolongation of his lifetime by three months. This event occurred at the city of Vaisali when Buddha was eighty years of age by the supplication of the lay devotee Tsundra. The celestial beings are said to have erected a stupa of this design. Most noteworthy, the complete victory stupa is characterized by having only three steps, which are circular and unadorned.
Stupa in Tibetan style
Dimensions:
Total height 34,5 cm
Base width 18 cm
Internal volume 1 litter
Weight:
Without filling approx. 4,4 kg
Material:
Ceramic mass - artificial stone
Stupa in Asian style
Dimensions:
Total height 37,5 cm
Base width 18,2 cm
Internal volume 1,25 litters
Weight:
Without filling approx. 4,4 kg
Material:
Ceramic mass - artificial stone
Vaisali - place of many Buddha's teachings
The city of Vaisali itself was a place of great beauty, inhabited by people respect throughout northern India for their love of freedom, their peacefullness, and their prosperity. On the Buddha's first visit to Vaisali after his enlightenment, he ended a great plague that was devastating the city and won the respect and love of the people. Another time when the Buddha visited Vaisali, a group of monkeys dug out a pool for the Buddha's use and offered him honey for refreshment. This event, which is depisted on bas-reliefs at Bharhut, Sanci, and Gandhara, was the great wonder that established Vaisali as a place of pilgrimage.
The Buddha often visited Vaisali in a course of his travels. The Bodhisattvacarya-nirdesa-sutra preserves an account of the marvels that attended one of the Buddha's entries into this garden city, which resembled an earthly paradise, so great was its prosperity and the elegance of its people. The Buddha remarked that the like of this city had never been seen, not even in the Heaven of the Thirty-three Gods. Vaisali was the site of many of the Buddha's teachings, including the extensive Bhadrakalpika-sutra. It was also the home of Vimalakirti, the layman whose understanding of the Dharma amazed even the great Mahakasyapa. The Vaisali courtesan Amrapali became a patroness of the Sangha and donated her garden, the Mango Grove, as a resting place for the Buddha and his disciples. It was in this garden that the Buddha, many years later, told his disciples, "In this place I have performed the last religious act of my earthly career," and announced he would soon enter Parinirvana. Here the Buddha began the last part of his final journey. After his Parinirvana, the Licchavis received a portion of the Buddha's relics and enshrined them in a stupa in Vaisali.
~ Holy places of the Buddha