There are stupas and chedis all throughout land where Buddhist Practitioners live. Here in Thailand, you will see many stupas and chedis.
These are built out of respect for The Buddha, and to distinguish this place, this land, this location, as being a region where people are learning and practicing The Teachings of The Buddha. This is out of respect for The Buddha but also, so that others know, these people are not going to change their perspective to some other collection of Teachings. They have made a conscious choice, to learn and practice The Teachings of The Buddha without anything easily changing their perspective in that regard.
It would be impossible for someone to wipe out Buddhist Teachings from this land, as these people have decided, dating back many centuries, that they are going to be Buddhist Practitioners.
A stupa is something that might have certain relics inside, where chedis are something that people, at one time, could physically enter.
If this stupa has something inside, that information is no longer available. This particular stupa was built to acknowledge the respect, not only for The Buddha, but also for the person who was the founder of this Temple.
Sometimes, it is nice to step back, look at the stupa, and see if you can discern the symbolism of the original intention of the artist and craftspeople who built the stupa.
Some people think they see four levels to this stupa, perhaps denoting The Four Stages of Enlightenment, or the first Teaching of The Buddha titled “The Four Noble Truths”.
In reality, the only person, or people, who really know what was being communicated through this stupas construction are, the people who were involved in building it. It was built so long ago, the true meaning of each level and why it was crafted in the way that it was, has been lost, although, you can see carved lotus flowers and other typical symbols from Buddhist culture.
Take some time to walk around, enjoy viewing it, and perhaps imagine what it must have been like so many years ago when they were first building this structure. How do you think they did it, what do you think they were trying to communicate, and how much longer do you think this stupa will be here?
It has already been here for nearly 800 years.