The stupa, a solid hemispherical mound enshrining relics and circumambulated by pilgrims, and the vihara, the planned monastic dwelling of cells around a courtyard, together formed a portable template for settlement. Monastic complexes such as Sanchi and the rock-cut viharas of the Deccan combined worship, residence, study and lay patronage into ordered precincts that drew trade and pilgrimage. Sited on routes and near towns, they seeded durable nodes of population and exchange. The model travelled with Buddhism across Asia, structuring monasteries and temple-towns from Sri Lanka to Japan.
The stupa-and-vihara complex was one of antiquity's most widely exported settlement types, anchoring towns, trade and learning across the continent. It shows how a religious building programme could generate enduring urban form on an Asian scale.