Buddhist architecture - Stupa/Chorten

Stupa/Chorten, Pagoda, Vihara are places to achieve peace. But I never thought that those places are graves. I found this, [Symbolism of the Stupa/Chrten](http://buddhanet.net/e-learning/history/buddhist-art/stupas.htm) : > The perfect proportions of the Buddha’s body corresponds to the design of religious monuments. Its architecture developed from the pre-Buddhist Indian grave-mound. Under these mounds the saintly ascetic were buried; their bodies were seated on the ground and covered with earth. These dome-shaped graves, or tumuli, of the saints were regarded as holy places. And were destinations for pilgrimage for the devotional and places of practice for meditators. The right side of figure shows stages: **Void, Wind, Fire, Earth.** Does that mean all those monuments are explaining life (body and soul)? The Buddha said this about the body of living being (quoting the 7th point at the bottom of page 131 of [The Buddha and His Dhamma by Dr B. R. Ambedkar](http://www.ambedkarintellectuals.in/attachment/4.buddha-and-his-dhamma.pdf)) : > The body of a living being consists of the **combination of four great elements, viz., earth, water, fire and air,** and when this combination is resolved into the four component elements, dissolution ensues.