A etched bronze stupa, Sri Lanka, 18th/19th century. The bell-shaped "garbhaya" raised on a stepped base and surmounted by a square "harmika" supporting a conical spire "koth keralla" accented with engraved foliate bands. In its original untouched finish. Bronze stupas were used as sacred repositories for the ashes of holy individuals, as symbols of the Buddha's enlightened mind, and as votive offerings for gaining merit and promoting spiritual practice. These small-scale, portable forms served to spread Buddhist teachings, could be placed on home altars or in monastic shrines, and functioned as devotional objects for meditation and worship.