Votive Stupa

Votive Stupa
with repeated Buddha images
Temple 12, Nalanda
:The stupa is decorated with multiple Buddha images, signifying the power and blessings of the godhead, as also happens in the iconography of Shiva (Sahasra Linga, Bhubaheshwar). These Buddha images are not, however, all alike: in the bottom row they display bhumisparsha mudra, appropriately "touching the earth;" in the row above, dharmachakra mudra, teaching; and in the row above that, dhyana mudra, meditation.