ABSTRACT

                  This thesis is of 3 objectives, namely: -  1. To study the view point and the history of Cetiyas in Theravāda Buddhist Scriptures 2. To study the importance of Cetiyas appearing in the Theravāda Buddhist Scriptures 3. To study the influence of Cetiyas  in  Theravāda Buddhism in Thailand.

                  From the research it is found that Cetiyas appeared in the ancient Indian Societies. It is believed that Cetiyas are the Aryans’ foundations of wisdom. When people die, they get cremated and their remains are then buried under the ground and the marks are made to be the place for respecting. It is the place for keeping the dead body under the ground. Later on, it becomes the sthupa which is the high land above the ground. Moreover, the bricks are used to prevent the soil from being destroyed. This popularity appeared up to the Buddha’s time. Thus, the popularity has been brought to be used in spreading the Dhammas. Some of such beliefs came from the Brahminism. Some of them were related to Buddhism.

                  In Buddhist Scriptures, Cetiyas means the constructed material for depositing the respectable things such as the Buddha’s relics, the noble monks’ relics, The religious respectable things or the ancestors’ bones. However, there are different ceremonies according to the local popularity, Such as the place when the people worship the pagodas. There is the arrangement of the ceremony of going around the pagodas on the important days. There is also the ceremony of worshipping the pagodas which is the yearly ceremony.

                  The influence of the pagodas in Theravāda Buddhism in Thailand consists of the influence toward the belief, the tradition, the community, the ways of life, the architecture, the literature and the worship the Three Jewels which are the combinations of the scholars’ notion which will be guide of Buddhists to has lifestyle properly.