So far the photos have been of the square levels. Then you come to the top levels, the round ones, and here you find the stupa. In each of these, there is – or was – a statue of Buddha. Some are now broken or missing.
They are, of course, very holy to Buddhists – but some people don’t treat them that way. Witness the guy below sitting on one, smoking a cigarette and using a handphone.
Below are pictures of what one looks like on the inside.
And here is one that is missing its “roof”.
He gazes at the volcano.
Buddhists – and many non-Buddhists – think it is good luck to touch the statue inside a stupa. And very good luck to touch every statue!
Which is not so easy…
The guy with the phone and fag gives me the shudders:-) You’d think most people would be moved by the wonder of the place if not by its spiritual conotations.
Sadly, I saw exactly the same behaviour in Canterbury Cathedral at the shrine of St Thomas Beckett. It’s crass and disrespectful to our ancestors and what they held dear as well as the skill of the craftsmen, whether one has a religious faith or not.
In that case, how did you take the inside picture? I assume part of the stupa was broken? They look like bells, are they meant to, do you know? What a fascinating place. I hope you touched every statue.
I know it’s a very special art, which is by itself, but i could’nt help to thinkso much about Aztec Buildings because of the stones, their shapes, the forest around.