Many of the stone carvings clearly depict some kind of scene with multiple characters. For a long time, art historians have interpreted these as scenes from the Buddha’s life, except that a stupa or other symbol is used to represent the Buddha rather than depicting his human form. Many textbooks still promote this idea; but new research strongly suggests that the carvings actually show veneration of stupa-s, as well as other symbols associated with the Buddha, conducted by important people at commonly visited sites of worship.

Therefore, by examining these carvings one can get a clearer sense of what Buddhists actually did around stupas, and also what other kinds of symbols might have been used to worship the Buddha in this early period. On the other hand, the carved scenes are often filled with minute details, and it is not always possible to ascertain what each figure or object represents.