The Gadan Tower: Atisha's Imprint on the Kadam Stupa
Tibetans widely view the Kadam-style Stupa (བཀའ་གདམས་མཆོད་རྟེན་, also known as the Kadam-style Reliquary) as a testament to the deeds of Master Atisha (982–1055). In the excerpt taken from *"Inscription on the Thangka of the Kadam Patriarchs' Lineage"* (བཀའ་གདམས་ཞལ་ཐང་བྲི་ཡིག།) by Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö (འཇམ་དབྱངས་མཁྱེན་བརྩེ་ཆོས་ཀྱི་བློ་གྲོས་; 1893–1959), Atisha sits at the center, majestic and sublime (…) with a Kadam stupa and some scriptures to his right, a meditation staff nearby, and a treasure casket to his left.
Scholars across Tibetan Buddhist traditions have long offered extensive praise for the Kadam stupa. Early art historians, however, regarded it as merely a variant of one of the **"Eight Stupas of the Buddha"**—in particular, the **Nirvana Stupa (མྱང་འདས་མཆོད་རྟེན་)**. Yet, with growing academic investigation into Tibetan stupa architecture, the derivation of the Kadam stupa’s name, its morphological development, and even its singular place within Tibet’s extensive history now require reassessment through textual and visual evidence.
The Third Tukwan, Lobsang Chökyi Nyima (ཐུའུ་བཀྭན་བློ་བཟང་ཆོས་ཀྱི་ཉི་མ་; 1737–1802), praised the Kadam stupa both for “manifesting perfect Nirvana” and as “the embodiment of the body, speech, and mind of all yidams and lineage masters.” For his teacher, the Sixth Panchen Lama, he commissioned three copper Kadam stupas. Of the Sakya school, Taktsang Lotsawa Sherab Rinchen (སྟག་ཚང་ལོ་ཙཱ་བ་ཤེས་རབ་རིན་ཆེན་; 1405–1477) said the stupa represents “the teachings transmitted in Tibet are perfectly clear and stainless.” Ngari Panchen Pema Wangyal (མངའ་རིས་པཎ་ཆེན་པད་མ་དབང་རྒྱལ་; 1487–1542), belonging to the Nyingma school, declared that the stupa signifies “Tibet has become a second Buddha-land.”
In texts dating from the 14th to 15th centuries, similar stupas were designated as "Jowoje Stupa" (ཇོ་བོ་རྗེའི་མཆོད་རྟེན་, i.e., Atisha Stupa). Only at a comparatively later stage did the term "Kadam Stupa" emerge. Three factors explain why this type of stupa is linked to Atisha, the first being that Atisha himself once constructed stupas as offerings to his yidam deities, while those he carried with him served to commemorate his teachers.
When Dromtönpa (1004-1064) founded Reting Monastery, he "constructed stupas with the master's relics for worship." These reliquary stupas, built after Atisha's passing, appear to have resembled the "Kadam Stupa," which was later often used as a reliquary. Most texts leave their design unspecified, alternately describing them as "Lotus Heap Stupas" or "Nirvana Stupas.
Having studied in Suvarnadvīpa (གསེར་གླིང་, present-day Sumatra), Third Atisha—who arrived from afar—not only authored texts and disseminated teachings, but also brought to Tibet the stupa designs common across South Asia, particularly those of Pala art. These diverse influences likely contributed to the form of the "Kadam Stupa". Hence, linking the stupa's provenance to Atisha is reasonable. The "Kadam Stupa" as known today is probably a local variation of the stupa types passed down by this master.
The Kadan Pagoda should thus not be viewed as identical to the Nirvana Pagoda, since their fixed correspondence only emerged at a comparatively late stage. Textual sources place the Kadan Pagoda's origins in the 11th century, yet it became widely prevalent only during the 13th century. Most extant specimens date from the 14th century and lack a Mihang seat, featuring a low base with a surrounding lotus band—characteristics that support the notion that the Kadan Pagoda began as a "hand-dragged pagoda.
In the classification of Kadan Pagodas within traditional craftsmanship studies, scholars have identified three types: standard (unspecified), pointed top, and rounded top. The inverted bowl form is typically circular in geometry or resembles a bell. The tall pagoda body, featuring a slight taper from top to bottom, embodies the conventional aesthetic. Pagodas exhibiting pointed upper sections are assigned to the pointed top category, whereas those with tops shaped like lotus buds or pearls fall under the rounded top style. This piece is rendered from SuolangWangqing's blog.