Yūpa

Yūpa
Yūpa sacrificial pillar of the time of Vasishka, third century CE, Isapur, near Mathura. Mathura Museum.

A Yūpa (यूप), or Yūpastambha, was a Vedic sacrificial pillar used in Ancient India. It is one of the most important elements of the Vedic rituals for animal sacrifice.

The execution of a victim (generally an animal), who was tied at the yūpa, was meant to bring prosperity to everyone.

Most yūpa, and all from the Vedic period, were in wood, and have not survived. The few stone survivals seem to be a later type of memorial using the form of the wooden originals. The Isapur Yupa, the most complete, replicates in stone the rope used to tether the animal. The topmost section is missing; texts describe a "wheel-like headpiece made of perishable material", representing the sun, but the appearance of that is rather unclear from the Gupta period coins that are the best other visual evidence.

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