According to which Buddhist text, Asoka distributed portions of the Buddha’s relics to every important town and ordered the construction of stupas over them?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Ashokavadana
According to the Buddhist text known as the Ashokavadana, Asoka distributed portions of the Buddha’s relics to every important town and ordered stupas to be built over them.
Note: A same/similar question was asked in CUET (UG) in the papers below.
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
| 13-05 S2* | 13-05 S2 15-05 S2* | – | 21-06 S1* | 21-08 S1* |
* A similar question.
NCERT (2026-27): “7.1 Why were stupas built? … The tradition of erecting stupas may have been pre-Buddhist, but they came to be associated with Buddhism. Since they contained relics regarded as sacred, the entire stupa came to be venerated as an emblem of both the Buddha and Buddhism. According to a Buddhist text known as the Ashokavadana, Asoka distributed portions of the Buddha’s relics to every important town and ordered the construction of stupas over them. By the second century BCE a number of stupas, including those at Bharhut, Sanchi and Sarnath (Map 1), had been built.…” |