Editing Rotunda (section)

==India==
{{multiple image
| align    = right
| caption_align = center
| image1   = Remnants_of_Stupa.jpg
| width1   = 200
| caption1 = Remains of the circular temple at [[Bairat]]. A stupa was located in the center, with a colonnade and a circular wall around. 3rd century BCE.
| image2   = Adoration_of_the_Diamond_Throne_and_the_Bodhi_Tree_Bharhut_relief.jpg
| width2   = 80
| caption2 = Ashoka's circular [[Mahabodhi Temple]], [[Bharhut]]
}}
Some of the earliest free-standing temples in India are thought to have been of a circular type, as the Buddhist [[Bairat Temple]] in [[Bairat]], [[Rajasthan]], formed of a central ''[[stupa]]'' surrounded by a circular colonnade and an enclosing wall, built during the time of Emperor [[Ashoka]] and near which were found several [[Minor Rock Edicts]].<ref name=BA233>{{cite book |last1=Le |first1=Huu Phuoc |title=Buddhist Architecture |date=2010 |publisher=Grafikol |isbn=9780984404308 |pages=233–237 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9jb364g4BvoC&pg=PA236 |language=en}}</ref> Ashoka also built the [[Mahabodhi Temple]] in [[Bodh Gaya]] circa 250 BC, possibly also a circular structure, next to the [[Bodhi tree]]. Representations of this early temple structure are found [[:File:Adoration_of_the_Diamond_Throne_and_the_Bodhi_Tree_Bharhut_relief.jpg|on a 100 BCE relief]] from the ''stupa'' railing at [[Bharhut|Bhārhut]], as well as in [[Sanchi]].<ref>"Sowing the Seeds of the Lotus: A Journey to the Great Pilgrimage Sites of Buddhism, Part I" by John C. Huntington. ''Orientations'', November 1985 pg 61</ref> These circular-type temples were also found in later rock-hewn caves such as [[Tulja Caves]] or [[Guntupalli Group of Buddhist Monuments|Guntupalli]].  Circularity in [[Buddhist architecture]] was generally to allow a path for ''[[pradakshina]]'' or devotional circling of a round and solid ''stupa''.<ref name=BA233/> 

It has been suggested that these circular structures with colonnades may have originated with the Greek circular tholos temple, as in the [[Tholos of Delphi]], but circular wooden huts in India are a more likely source of inspiration.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Le |first1=Huu Phuoc |title=Buddhist Architecture |date=2010 |publisher=Grafikol |isbn=9780984404308 |page=236 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9jb364g4BvoC&pg=PA236 |language=en}}</ref>

<gallery>
File:Sanchi Stupa from Eastern gate, Madhya Pradesh.jpg|[[Sanchi Stupa]] in India, a Buddhist pilgrimage site
File:Tulja_Lena_Chaitya_remains.jpg|Remains of a circular [[Chaitya]], [[Tulja Caves]]
File:Tulja Lena Chaitya cave plan and elevation.jpg|Tulja Lena [[Chaitya]], plan and elevation
File:Bodhi_tree_temple_depicted_in_Sanchi_Stupa_1_Southern_gateway.jpg|[[Sanchi]] depiction of the [[Mahabodhi Temple]]
File:Bairat_Temple_reconstitution.jpg|Reconstruction of the [[Bairat Temple]] 
</gallery>