stū́pa m. (accord. to [Sāy.] fr. √ styai accord. to [Uṇ.] fr. √ 3. stu; prob. connected with stupá, under √ 3. stu) a knot or tuft of hair, the upper part of the head, crest, top, summit [cf. Gk. στύπος], [RV.]; [TS.]
[PañcavBr.]
a heap or pile of earth or bricks &c., (esp.) a Buddhist monument, dagoba (generally of a pyramidal or dome-like form and erected over sacred relics of the great Buddha or on spots consecrated as the scenes of his acts), [MWB. 504]
any relic-shrine or relic-casket (made of various materials, such as terra cotta, clay, elaborately formed brick or carved stone; often very small and portable, and enclosing a fragment of bone or a hair &c. of some saint or deceased relative, or inscribed with a sacred formula; these are carried long distances and deposited in hallowed spots such as Buddha-Gayā), [MWB. 397, 504]