ABSTRACT
External forms and internal materiality of stupas underwent changes over centuries, and how these changes also altered the sacred landscape of a Buddhist site is the subject matter of the chapter. Exploring the practices of the worship of the stupa at the site of Udayagiri in particular and Lalitagiri and Ratnagiri in general in Odisha, the present chapteranalyses the transformation of material contents and form of stupas - from that of containing body relics to pratīiyasamutpādasūtra and then to various dhāraṇīs and finally, in 8th century CE, a maṇḍala stupa emerged in Udayagiri I area. The emergence of this maṇḍala Mahāstupa also coincided with the construction of a new monastery in the same area which asserted its new identity by issuing a new monastic seal, namely Mādhavapura Mahāvihāra, in addition to the prevailing monastic seal, Simhaprasata Mahāvihāra, which developed early in Udayagiri II area.
