During Nepal’s monsoon season, Newar Buddhist devotees mark Gumla, a significant holy month, by taking part in music, festivals, pilgrimage, and religious practices. One important practice involves making thousands of small clay stupas, or chaityas, as a way to express devotion and accumulate religious merit. By the end of Gumla, the community completes one hundred thousand small stupas. These stupas may include small amounts of crematory remains or mementos of deceased loved ones, allowing merit to be shared posthumously. At the end of the month, a designated priest performs a consecration ritual before the stupas are deposited in a river. This practice is depicted in this 16th-century Newar paubha, or scroll painting, from the Rubin’s collection. The rows of small white stupas show the many chaityas made by the community. The bottom register shows the priest and patrons enacting the ritual, with men in the lower left and women in the lower right. Traditionally, patrons often spon...