Sanchi 46 KILOMETERS FROM BHOPAL |
Sanchi, variously known as Kakanaya, Kakanava, Kakanadabota and Bota-Sriparvata in ancient times, is home to many of the world's finest examples of Buddhist art and architecture. The quiet hill is crowned by a group of stupas, monasteries, temples and pillars dating from the 3rd century BC to the 12th century AD. However it is for the great stupa (above) built by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BC that Sanchi is chiefly famed. For more than 2,000 years it has remained a place of pilgrimage, nowadays people come from all over the world to meditate on the Buddhist legends preserved in its carved stones. At Sanchi, unlike at later Buddhist sites, the Buddha himself is not represented by a figure but by symbols. This was traditional in the early period of Buddhism. The lotus represents the Buddha's birth, the tree signifies his enlightenment, the wheel represents his nirvana or salvation. The footprints and the throne denote his presence.
The Sanchi stupa was enlarged and beautified over a period of some six hundred years. A few generations after Ashoka, a Sunga ruler faced it with stone, gave it balustrades and stairs and crowned it with a harmika. Two other stupas were also built around this time. During the first century BC the Andhra-Satavahanas, who had extended their power over the region, created the elaborately carved gateways of the great stupa.
Between the 2nd and 4th centuries AD, Sanchi came under the rule of the Kushanas and Kshatrapas and subsequently became part of the Gupta empire. During this period some temples were built and more sculptures were added. Shrines and monasteries continued to be built at the site from the seventh to twelfth centuries AD. ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS The Great Stupa No.1- 36.5m in diameter and 16.4 m high it is one of the oldest stone structures in India. With a massive hemispherical dome, the stupa stands majestically. The paved procession path around it has been worn smooth by centuries of visiting pilgrims. Built originally as an earthen stupa by the Emperor Ashoka, it was rebuilt in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. The last of the additions to this remarkable stupa are the elaborate and richly carved four gateways or Toranas. The first of the four gateways to be erected was the one at the Southern Entrance, followed, in chronological order by the Northern, the Eastern and the Western Gateways.
The Southern Gateway: Reveals the birth of Gautum in a series of dramatically rich carvings. The Northern Gateway: crowned by a wheel of law, illustrates the miracle associated with the Buddha as told in the Jataka tales.
The Eastern Gateway, depicts the young prince, Gautam, leaving his father's place, renouncing worldly life to seek enlightenment .The inner face of the right pillar portrays the dream of Maya, the mother of Buddha, when she conceived him. The The Western Gateway depicts the Seven incarnations of the Buddha, four represented by trees and three by stupas; the Buddha preaching his first sermon at the Deer Park, Sarnath and the Chhaddanta Jataka tale.
Stupa No. 2, dating back to the 2nd Century BC, stands at the very edge of the hill and its most striking feature is the stone balustrade that surrounds it. Stupa No.3 situated northeast of the Great Stupa is where the relics of Sariputra and Mahamogalana, the two famous disciples of the Buddha were found in its inner most chambers. The hemispherical dome is crowned, as a mark of its special religious significance, with an umbrella of polished stone. It has only one gateway. This structure belongs to the period between 150-140 BC. An Ashoka Pillar, with its four lion head stump, erected during the 3rd Century BC, is situated close to the Southern Gateway of the Great Stupa. Though, similar to the intricately carved pillar in Sarnath, the lions did not support a "Wheel of Law" (Dharmachakra). A unique feature of this pillar is its brilliant polish. The Gupta Temple (4th Century AD), now in ruins, is one of the earliest known examples of temple architecture in India. It consists of a simple flat roofed chamber with a pillared porch in front. Temple 18, a Chaitya Hall, situated in front of the Southern Gateway of the Great Stupa is comparatively recent (around 7th Century A.D.) resembles the rock-cut Chaitya halls at Karla Caves in Maharashtra.
The Monastery and Temple 45, built between the 7th and 11th Centuries, show more developed styles of architecture. On the ornamental doorway here, one can see the image of Buddha with an oval Halo. The Great Bowl, carved out of one block of stone, contained food that was distributed amongst the monks of Sanchi. The Archaeological Survey of India Museum, situated at the entrance to the monument, exhibits findings and remains of the excavated site.Among these are caskets, pottery, and parts of gateways, lion capital of the Ashokan Pillar and images. LATER HISTORY OF THE SITE After the 13th century Sanchi was abandoned and forgotten. Half a millenium passed before, in 1818, a British officer, General Taylor rediscovered the stupa, well preserved by the earth in which it was half buried. In 1912, Sir John Marshal, Director General of Archeology ordered the site to be restored. In 1919 he established an archaeological museum, which in due course became the present museum.
Now a World Heritage site, Sanchi is cared for by UNESCO, which has plans to further excavate, conserve and develop the site in an environmentally sensitive manner.
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