After his enlightenment, the Buddha was generally treated as one would treat a sovereign ruler, with formal rituals signaling great honor and respect. Those coming to receive teachings or advice would often arrange their garment in a certain way, bow low when approaching, and then sit quietly to the side until addressed. On some occasions a person would also walk around the Buddha three times as a signal of respect. In fact, the Buddha was often referred to as “the Conqueror.’ Furthermore the phrase often used to describe his initial dispensation of teaching--his “turning the wheel of dharma”--drew on the common reference to a great king as a “wheel-turner,” where the wheel symbolized the law and order of the kingdom.

It is no surprise, then, to find the Buddha honored as a king after his death. After the cremation of a great “wheel-turner,” a mound, or stupa, would often be built to enshrine his remains. According to the tradition, the same was done with the Buddha’s remains, which were divided into eight portions and used to build stupas at eight important sites. Some sources even describe the Buddha himself instructing his followers in this practice; and even extending it to honoring noble disciples who had also passed away.

The 3rd century emperor Ashoka, perhaps the most famous king to promote Buddhist teachings throughout his realm, is best remembered for having retrieved those eight portions and re-divided and distributed them to create 84,000 stupas. Whether or not there is any validity to this figure, it is clear that after Ashoka, worship of the Buddha in stupa-s proliferated throughout India during the centuries following his reign.