How to Use stupa in a Sentence

stupa

noun
  • In Ladakh, that might mean building stupas, small piles of ice that last through dry seasons.
    National Geographic, 9 Dec. 2019
  • And a sculptural depiction of a stupa, carved in relief on a limestone panel, opens the show.
    Holland Cotter, New York Times, 21 July 2023
  • The exhibit fans out around a structure that replicates the form of a Buddhist stupa.
    Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 14 Aug. 2023
  • The stupa is believed to mark the spot where Buddha preached his sermon at Deer Park.
    Antonia Neubauer, Town & Country, 5 Oct. 2016
  • This year, farmers and students together built a higher stupa.
    National Geographic, 16 June 2020
  • In all, there are 16 stupas that hold the remains of Cambodian kings.
    Lilit Marcus, CNN Money, 27 Nov. 2025
  • Wangchuk and his students built their first ice stupa in November 2013.
    National Geographic, 16 June 2020
  • And there are new additions to the collection on view for the first time such as a bell from Indonesia in the shape of a stupa.
    Roger Catlin, Smithsonian, 4 Oct. 2017
  • Stone stupas rise from the earth like ancient lungs, exhaling centuries of incense across Mrauk U’s windswept plains.
    Lewis Nunn, Forbes.com, 24 Aug. 2025
  • Throngs of worshipers sat on the earth around the bleach-white stupa, a large dome that represents the earth’s elements and is used as a place of meditation.
    Maria Abi-Habib, New York Times, 2 May 2018
  • The stupa, a Buddhist structure, is one of the oldest forms of sacred architecture on Earth.
    Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 18 Oct. 2024
  • One of the oldest stone structures in India, the stupa covering was built to shelter the remains of a Buddha.
    Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, 8 Apr. 2021
  • Since Wangchuk invented the ice stupa in 2013, he's been teaching villagers in Ladakh how to build their own.
    Rasha Aridi, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Nov. 2021
  • Wangchuk, 50, plans to build up to 20 ice stupas, each capable of supplying millions of gallons of water.
    National Geographic, 15 Nov. 2016
  • It’s widely believed the relics later multiplied; most are enshrined in a memorial stupa at Kopan monastery in Nepal.
    Deepa Bharath, Los Angeles Times, 1 Mar. 2026
  • It's widely believed the relics later multiplied; most are enshrined in a memorial stupa at Kopan monastery in Nepal.
    ABC News, 1 Mar. 2026
  • At one edge of the lawn, tall Tibetan prayer flag stands next to a white incense-burning stupa, much like the one on the family property in Taktser.
    Anne F. Thurston, Foreign Affairs, 23 Feb. 2016
  • In 2016, the stupa was a crumbling stub poking up amid a mound of detritus, its elaborate patterns of arches nearly worn away.
    New York Times, 4 Mar. 2021
  • At its peak, the temple boasted a smaller stupa at the front, a room or cell for monks, the podium of a column or pillar, a staircase, vestibule rooms, and a public courtyard that overlooked a road.
    David Kindy, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 Feb. 2022
  • His excavation of the site uncovered an ancient Buddhist stupa and a huge sandstone sarcophagus-like tomb.
    Helen Regan, CNN Money, 6 May 2025
  • This is one of the more surprising finds in Bangkok, hidden away in the back of Wat Arun, far from the busy riverfront and scenic main stupa, a major tourist attraction.
    Joe Cummings, CNN, 2 Nov. 2021
  • He’s first seen strolling through photogenic golden fields, circling a stone stupa on his way to visit an elderly lama (real-deal lama Kelsang Choejey).
    Peter Debruge, Variety, 7 Oct. 2023
  • Protesters flowed in from townships on Yangon’s fringes and all over the city, converging on the area around Sule Pagoda, a sparkling golden stupa that is the heart of the city center.
    Washington Post, 7 Feb. 2021
  • But in 2022, Chilean engineers built similar ice stupa prototypes in the Andes.
    Cameron Pugh, The Christian Science Monitor, 4 Jan. 2024
  • All the restoration work on the stupa was being done according to surviving examples on the building’s symmetrical exterior.
    New York Times, 4 Mar. 2021
  • The central stupa also houses various sacred relics, including tooth relics of the Buddha obtained from Sri Lanka.
    Ethan Teekah, Encyclopedia Britannica, 1 May 2026
  • Visitors are encouraged to show respect and observe silence while at the stupa, allowing everyone to experience its peaceful ambiance.
    The Arizona Republic, 28 July 2023
  • The hemisphere-like shape known as the stupa is a common sight in Buddhist architecture, and Sanchi Stupa is perhaps the most famous of the ancient examples.
    Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, 8 Apr. 2021
  • The earthquake destroyed the church in Shilaprabat, and it was rebuilt near a Hindu stupa that still bears the signs of the disaster, with its steeple standing askew at a 30 degree angle.
    Rojita Adhikari, CNN, 8 June 2018
  • Monks, nuns and laypeople go through their daily practices on a day during the December full moon festival at the Ruwanwelisaya stupa in the town of Anuradhapura.
    Roger Catlin, Smithsonian, 4 Oct. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'stupa.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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