Making Clay Stupas

This event is held in conjunction with the exhibition Dharma and Punya: Buddhist Ritual Art of Nepal. The exhibition

highlights Nepal’s artistic heritage as a rich and enduring continuation of Indic Buddhist traditions. Featuring paintings, illustrated texts, sculptures, and ritual implements crafted by Newar artisans over the last millennium, “Dharma and Puṇya: Buddhist Ritual Art of Nepal” will be centered on how the Buddha’s teachings were arrayed as much for worldly householders as otherworldly seekers. It will illustrate the centrality of ritual in Buddhism, showing how illustrated narratives and common practices address every devotee’s need to make good karma (punya), a central tenet of the Buddha’s teaching (dharma). Showing some objects never before displayed in the West, this historic exhibition will focus on the unparalleled contributions of Kathmandu Valley artisans and patrons not only in their communities, but in the subsequent development of Tibetan art.

Dharma and Punya: Buddhist Ritual Art of Nepal has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this exhibition do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. www.neh.gov

Detail of colossal bilampauof the Svayambhū Purāṇa
1876 CE (N.S 996)
87.31 × 596.9 cm, 34 3/8” × 19 ½’
Opaque watercolor on cloth
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
91.466
Arthur and Margaret Glasgow Fund