noun
stupa; dagoba
Buddhist term for a mound-like structure containing relics; from Sanskrit stūpa. In Japanese contexts, often refers to the five-tiered stone pagoda shape.
from Sanskrit stūpa
See also: 塔
この寺には古い卒塔婆が残っている。
An old stupa remains at this temple.
noun
A tall, narrow wooden board set up at a grave, inscribed with a posthumous Buddhist name and a mantra. Common in Japanese Buddhist funerary practice.
See also: 板塔婆
お盆には墓に新しい卒塔婆を立てる。
During Obon, we set up a new wooden grave tablet at the grave.
Variant kanji form; 都 replaces 塔.
Kana spelling is common in everyday writing, especially for the grave tablet sense.
Rarely used kanji form.
From Sanskrit stūpa, via Chinese 卒塔婆 (MC *tswot tʰap ba). The reading そとば reflects a historical borrowing. The wooden grave tablet sense developed in Japan as a symbolic representation of a stupa.