Khan Academy: Secrets of the Stupa

In this video [7:03] Jeffrey Durham, Assistant Curator of Himalayan Art at the Asian Art Museum, discusses the secrets of the Svayambhu stupa in the Asian Art Museum's collection. It is one of the most interesting models of stupa or a monumental reliquary in the U.S. What you're looking at is replica of a temple called the Svayam Boudnath temple in Kathmandu in Nepal. Now Svayam Boudnath means the Lord who is self arisen in other words who has created itself, so this Monument is understood to be self-created but in a very special kind of way.