Stupas of Temple Complex in the City of Khovd (Mongolia): Results of Architectural-Semantic Analysis
The research objective includes development and approbation of comprehensive methodology to analyse the Buddhist stupa - one of the most important artistic and expressive elements of temple complexes. It is shown that the stupa is a complex object rich in symbolism. The paper considers the stupa genesis, identifies its distribution areal, reveals the basic functions in sacred places; the authors argue that in Mongolia, stupas traditionally served as a fence encircling a temple. Scientific originality of the research involves justifying necessity of the comprehensive approach to studying stupas, which involves the following stages: establishing the stupa type; identifying the stupa role in composition of a temple complex; analysing the stupa symbolic meaning. This approach allows deeper understanding of the stupa semantic-symbolic meaning. The research findings are as follows: the proposed methodology is applied to analyse artistic-expressive and architectural-semantic peculiarities of a temple complex in the city of Khovd in Western Mongolia.