Although they vary in size and ornamentation, stupas built throughout India have the same basic form, so it seems likely that their features represent ideas central to the Buddhist worldview.

1. The three levels of the stupa most likely serve to remind to worshipper of the “three jewels” (Buddha, dharma, and sangha) invoked and praised daily in Buddhist practice.

2. The four sides of the stupa’s top, on the other hand, most likely remind one of the four noble truths, which many claim are the highest expressions of what the Buddha taught.

3. Some scholars have noted that, in circling the stupa twice as great dignitaries often did when visiting a village, one passes each gate twice for a total of eight, which may be linked to the eight elements of the eightfold noble path.