Sanchi is a small village in the east of Bhopal, in the central part of the state of Madhya Pradesh. Sanchi is famous for
its Buddhist
monuments, even when it has not been connected with the life of Lord Buddha. These monuments are one of the most magnificent examples of Buddhist architecture. The Chinese visitors to India, Fahien and Hieun Tsang make no mention of Sanchi in their works.
The Great Sanchi Stupa is main Buddhist monument of historical significance. Ashoka, the Great in the 3rd Century B.C, commissioned it. It is built on a hill 300 feet in height in sandstone. This Stupa was initially build as funeral mounds but later became an object of worship from the rule of Ashoka. The Stupa is about 54 feet in height and 120 feet in diameter. It is hemispherical dome truncated near the top and surrounded at its base by a lofty terrace, which serves as a professional path. Encircling the monument at the ground level is a second professional path enclosed by a massive balustrade of stone. This is plain and divided into 4
gateways or ‘torana’ set at cardinal points. The gateways are lavishly carved with relieves on both the inner and outer side. The gateways were probably erected in the 1st Century A.D. The balustrade and the gateways were red in color while the Stupa is white. With its many tiers it was a symbol of the Dharma, the Wheel of the Law.
In the case of Sanchi and most other stupas it was the local population who donated money towards the embellishment of the stupa to attain spiritual merit. There was no direct royal patronage. Devotees, both men and women, who donated money towards a sculpture would often choose their favourite scene from the life of the Buddha and then have their names inscribed on it. This accounts for the random repetition of particular episodes on the stupa (Dehejia 1992). On these stone carvings the Buddha was never depicted as a human figure. Instead the artists chose to represent him by certain attributes, such as the horse on which he left his father’s home, his footprints or a canopy under the Bodhi Tree at the point of his enlightenment. The human body was thought to be too confining for the Buddha. The 4 important vents of Buddha’s life are well depicted as the four designs namely, birth (as a lotus), enlightenment (throne beneath the Pipal tree), the first sermon (the wheel on the throne) and the death (the Stuoa with worshippers).
There is a pair of Yakshas and Yakshis on each gateway. Figures of animals and birds can be seen the capitals such as gaots, horses, camels, bulls, elephants, lions and peacocks. Floral designs can also be seen including lotus, grapewine and Honey suckle, which are rich and exuberant in appearance.
With the decline of Buddhism, the monuments of Sanchi went out of use and fell into a state of disrepair. The site was re-discovered by British archealogists and properly restored. Today, around fifty monuments remain on the hill of Sanchi, including three stupas and several temples. The monuments have been listed among the UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1998.