| |
|
|
| |
  |
|
|
| |
Sanchi |
|
|
|
Sanchi is
known for stupas, monasteries, temples and pillars dating
from the 3 rd century BC to the 12th century AD. The most
famous of these monuments, the Sanchi Stupa 1, was
originally built by the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka, the then
governor of Ujjayini, whose wife Devi was |
 |
|
|
|
| |
the daughter
of a merchant from adjacent Vidisha. Their son Mahindra and
daughter Sanghamitra were born in Ujjayini and sent to sri
Lanka, where they converted the king, the queen and their
people to Buddhism.
The
world-renowned stupas of stupa of Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh
are being designated by UNESCO as the world heritage site
for its archaeological andhistorical importance.
A Chunar
sandstone pillar fragment, shining with the proverbial
Mauryan polish, lies near Stupa 1 and carries the famous
edict of Ashoka warning against schism in the Buddhist
community. Stupa 1 was found empty , while relics of the
two disciples of Buddha enshrined in the adjacent Stupa 3
were carried away to England. The nearby moern temple has
a reliquary containing the remains of a Buddhist teacher
from another stupa outside Sanchi. |
| |
|
The Sanchi hill goes
up in shelves with Stuupa 2 situated on a lower shelf, while Stupa
1, Stupa3, the 5th century Gupta temple No. 17 and the 7th century
temple No. 18 are on the intermediate shelf while a later
monastery is on the crowning shelf. The balustrade surrounding
Stupa 2, carved with aniconic representations of the Buddha, was
added in the late 2nd century BC under the Shungas, while the four
gateways of Stupa 1 were built in the 1st century BC under the
Satavahanas.
Carved with stories
of the Buddha's past and present lives and with incidents from the
subsequent history of Buddhism, the gateways are the finest
spenciments of early classical art, which formed the seedbed for
the entire vocabulary of later Indian art. |
|
|
Two of the moving
stories told on these portals are those of Prince Vessantara, who gave
away his wealth, his wife and children out of charity and compassioin,
and of Buddha who, as the monkey king, sacrificed his life to wave his
companions.
The inscriptions on the
gateway mention donors from all over northern India and special
mention is made of the ivory workers of Vidisha who sculpted the stone
with the precision of jewelers. |
|
|
The adjacent Gupta
temple No. 17 was hailed by Sir John Marshall as one of the most
rationally organized structures in Indian architecture. Though small,
it was a herald of all the principles which went into the engineering
of an Indian temple in the early medieval period. The Buddhas in the
perambulatory surrounding Stupa 1 are not contemporary with the Stupa
but belong to the Gupta period in the mid-5th century A.D The
monastery and the temple with the tall pillars adjacent to Stupa 1 and
the temple near the monastery on the crowning shelf illustrate the
evolution of the architectural form after the 5th century Gupta
temple. |
|
| |
Below the hill, the
Archaeological Survey of India Museum houses, some of the earliest
known stone sculptures in Indian art from the 3rd to the 1st century
BC while the adjacent town of Vidisha has a state museum with medieval
sculptures. The nearby monuments, like the 2nd century B. C.
Heliodoros Pillar, the 5th century a.D. Udayagiri Caves and the
Lohangi Hill monuments in vidisha are situated within as radius of 10
km from sanchi, and are well worth a visit. |
|
| |
Top |
|
|
| |
| |
| |
|
|
|
How to go |
|
|
|
Good, motorable roads connect
Sanchi with Bhopal, Indore, Sagar, Gwalior, Vidisha and raisen,
besides other places. |
|
|
|
|
Sanchi lies on the Jhansi-Itarsi section of the Central Railways>
However, the most convenient railhead is Vidisha (10 km).
|
|
|
|
|
Nearest airport is at Bhopal
(46 km via Diwanganj and 78 km via Raisen) which is connected
with Delhi, Mumbai, Gwalior and Indore. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
