Sanchi Stupa

Sanchi is a famous Buddhist site which is located in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is easily accessible by flights, trains, and roads. Although Sanchi is not associated in any way to the life of Buddha and neither did the master ever set his foot here, yet the place is full of Buddhist structures of great architectural and sculptural beauty. The place saw a continuous building activity starting from the 2nd century B.C. up till the 12th century A.D. The monuments include Stupas, pillars, monasteries, temples, and paths for circumambulation with railings. The four gateways of Sanchi stupa are world famous for their intricate sculpture, while the inscriptions found on the monuments throw light on the life of the people. The onsite museum at Sanchi, maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India, houses the art pieces found at the site which includes the lion capital of Askoka's pillar.

The famous Sanchi Stupa was built in the 2nd century B.C. by King Ashoka of the Mauryan dynasty. The stupa contains the relics of Buddha which were obtained by Ashoka after waging a war. The stupa was commissioned by him after he married a Buddhist lady called Devi, who was a daughter of a wealthy merchant of Vidisha. Ashoka met her while, as the heir apparent, he was on a journey to the province of Ujjain and had halted in Vidisha. The children born out of this marriage, son Mahendra and daughter Sanghamitra, were later sent to spread Buddhism in Sri Lanka. The place also has an Ashokan pillar which contains the famous schism edit. It also has a lion capital which is similar to the one found at Sarnath, which is India's national emblem. The two other important stupas here contain the relics of two disciples of Buddha, namely Sariputra and Mahamogallana.

The extensive constructive activity at Sanchi would not have been possible without the patronage of kings and wealthy people. The constructions started with the royal patronage of Emperor Ashoka but it was the thriving Buddhist community in the neighbourhood which sustained it in the later years. The inscriptions on the monuments record the names of the people who made donations. These inscriptions are valuable sources of study the language and the Brahmi script used at that time. Also, the presence of foreigners in Indian society and their assimilation is indicated by the Greco-Bactrian elements found in the sculptures. During the time of the Mauryas and the centuries after them India saw an influx of people from the north- western borders. They brought with them their styles of craftsmanship and once they assimilated and settled down in India they adopted the prevalent Indian faiths. The stone sculptures at Sanchi have a distinct touch of their art.

Sanchi stands testimony to the art which has survived from the third century B.C. Stupas, containing caskets of relics, which were made of steatite and kept in stone boxes. The Ashokan pillar speaks volumes of Mauryan workmanship of polishing stone till it achieved a metallic shine, which has remained unsurpassed. These pillars are made in the Perso-Greek style and are adorned with capitals which are beautifully sculpted with animated figures of animals. The railings which surround the stupas have been made by artists who were transitioning from working in wood to working in stone. They were still working with the 'law of frontality', and were yet to learn to sculpt with 'memory pictures' rather than by directly observing nature. The four gateways have sculptures, depicting stories from the Jatakas. These were made by both professional and amateur artists, some of whom came from the North-west of India, as suggested by the motifs.

The monuments at Sanchi are closely connected to the rise and decline of Buddhism in India. The early constructions are related to the Hinayana school which did not believe in depicting Buddha himself. Instead, Buddha's presence is indicated by symbols associated with his life such as an elephant, stupa, tree, and a wheel, which are associated with his birth, death, enlightenment, and his preaching or the turning of the wheel of dharma. The later additions belong to the rise of the Mahayana School which allowed for the making of the idols of Buddha. The temples found at Sanchi point to the beginning of free-standing structures that started to be used for worship. The sculptures of gods and goddesses of the Brahmanical faith such as the Ganga, Yamuna, Parvati and Ganesha indicate the revival of Hinduism in the later centuries and a decline of Buddhism in the region.

Sanchi contains first of the Buddhist monuments built in India. The stupas were originally built of bricks. In the following centuries, these were covered with stones and then with a layer of plaster. This helped not only in preserving the original structure but also in enlarging the dimension of the domes. The construction that followed was the addition of the stone railings around the stupas and also a circumambulation path on the great stupa. The four gateways of the great stupa (Stupa No. 1) are made of sandstone and profusely carved. The free-standing temples consist of flat roofs and a pillared veranda. The pillars with capitals found at Sanchi consist of the one made by Ashok pillar with the lion capital which stands at the western gate of the Great Stupa. The utilitarian structures, which consist of the viharas or the monasteries and the water reservoirs, are well laid out and sturdy.

An interesting story is associated with how Buddha's relics reached Sanchi. When Buddha died he was cremated and his relics were divided amongst 8 rulers, who placed them in caskets, which were in turn enshrined in 8 stupas. It was king Ashoka who opened up the original eight stupas and exhumed the relics. He redistributed them and built several stupas for each of these relics, including the great stupa at Sanchi. The other story is about the journey of the relics of Buddha's disciples which had been interned at Sanchi. British explorers, Alexander Cunningham and Captain F.C. Maisey, divided the finds from Sanchi amongst themselves and took them to England. It was due to the efforts of the Mahabodhi Society of Sri Lanka that these were returned in 1947. After being displayed in Sri Lanka, these were brought back to Sanchi. In 1952 a new temple called the Chetiyagiri Vihara was constructed here to house the relics.