Bharhut stupa

Also called: Bharhut · Topic: Early Indian Art and Architecture: Stupas, Rock-cut Caves, Temples · NCERT: Class 6, Ch 7 "India's Cultural Roots"; Class 7, Ch 6 "The Age of Reorganisation"; Class 12, Ch 4 "Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings"

Meaning

The Bharhut stupa was an early Buddhist stupa (a mound holding relics of the Buddha) in Satna district, Madhya Pradesh. It was standing by the 2nd century BCE. Its stone railings and gateway were carved with scenes from the Buddha's life and from Jataka stories (tales of the Buddha's earlier births). Many of these scenes carry short labels in stone that name the story.

It matters for two reasons. With Sanchi and Amaravati, it is one of the great early stupas known for carved railings [5]. Its many gift inscriptions also show that ordinary people, not only kings, paid for early Buddhist art.

Explanation

Background: why a stupa was built here

• A stupa is a mound. Inside it are kept relics of the Buddha: bits of his body, or objects he used.
• Building mounds over the dead was probably older than Buddhism. Buddhism took this old custom and gave it a new meaning.
• Two Buddhist texts explained why stupas had to be built:
• In the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, the dying Buddha tells Ananda to raise a thupa (Pali for stupa) "at the four crossroads". This means a public place where everyone passes.

• The Ashokavadana says Asoka shared out the Buddha's relics to every important town, and a stupa was built over each one.

• Result: one burial turned into many shrines across India. The first stupas date to about the 3rd century BCE. By the 2nd century BCE, the stupas at Bharhut, Sanchi and Sarnath were standing.

Main parts and materials

• It had the usual parts of a stupa [5]:
• Anda: the solid dome, shaped like half an egg. It hid the relic.
• Medhi: the round terrace (drum) the dome sits on.
• Harmika: a small box-shaped relic chamber on top of the dome.
• Yashti: the central pillar, standing for the axis of the universe.

• Chattra: the triple umbrella, standing for the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the dharma (his teaching) and the sangha (the community of monks and nuns).

• Building method: the core was brick or rubble. The parts people saw and touched were carved in stone. These were the railing (vedika) and the gateway (torana).

• Bharhut's fame comes from its stone railing. It is one of the three great early stupas known for carved railings, along with Sanchi and Amaravati [5].

Style of the carving

• The Buddha is never shown as a man. He is shown through symbols: a tree, an empty seat, footprints, a wheel or the stupa itself. This is called aniconic art (showing something holy without a human image).
• Jataka panels: round medallions and panels on the railing tell stories of the Buddha's earlier births, often as an animal or a prince.
• Label inscriptions: many panels carry a short line that names the story or the figure. This is Bharhut's special feature. Because of these labels, scholars can read the scenes with certainty.
• Yakshas and yakshis (nature spirits worshipped by ordinary people) are carved on the railing pillars as guardians. This shows that popular folk beliefs were taken into Buddhist art.
• The style is flat and story-like. Figures are cut in low relief and set out in rows, like a picture book carved in stone.

Who paid for it, and what it led to

• Votive inscriptions are short gift records cut into railing posts and cross-bars. Each one names the person who paid for that one piece.
• Donors included:
• lay men and women, who often gave their town, their job and the names of their relatives;
• bhikkhus and bhikkhunis (Buddhist monks and nuns), even though they were supposed to own nothing;

• rulers and officials.

• Result: a huge monument was built bit by bit, without depending on one single patron.

• Bharhut's labelled stories and symbol-based Buddha set the pattern followed at the Sanchi gateways. Much later, the Gandhara and Mathura schools broke from this pattern and showed the Buddha in human form.

Time, place and evidence

• Place: Bharhut, Satna district, Madhya Pradesh, in central India [5].
• Period: standing by the 2nd century BCE. An inscription on the gateway refers to the Shunga kings. For this reason, the stone railing and gateway are usually dated to the Shunga period, but exact dates are approximate.
• Rediscovery: the British archaeologist Alexander Cunningham explored and excavated the site in the 1870s. By then the mound itself was largely ruined.
• Where it is now: most surviving railing pieces and the gateway were moved to the Indian Museum, Kolkata. Little remains at the site itself.
• How we know about it:
• the carved railing and gateway themselves;
• label inscriptions that name Jataka scenes and figures;
• votive inscriptions recording donors, their places and their jobs;
• Buddhist texts (the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, the Ashokavadana) that explain why stupas were built.

Don't confuse with

• Sanchi stupa: also in Madhya Pradesh, but first built under Asoka in the 3rd century BCE. It has four carved gateways, over 400 inscriptions, and UNESCO World Heritage status (1989) [2][3]. Bharhut is famous for its labelled railing panels. It is not a UNESCO site, and its remains are mostly in the Indian Museum, Kolkata.
• Amaravati stupa: in Andhra Pradesh, not central India. It is known for its four ayaka platforms, which gave seven crystal and one ivory relic caskets [4].
• Sarnath: also standing by the 2nd century BCE. It is best known as the place of the Buddha's first sermon. Bharhut is known for its Jataka railing.
• Gandhara / Mathura Buddha images: these show the Buddha in human form. At Bharhut he appears only through symbols.

Prelims Hooks

• Bharhut stupa — Madhya Pradesh (Satna district). Amaravati — Andhra Pradesh [5].
• Stupas standing by the 2nd century BCE: Bharhut, Sanchi, Sarnath. The first stupas date to the 3rd century BCE.
• Three great early stupas with carved railings: Bharhut, Sanchi, Amaravati [5].
• Bharhut was explored and excavated by Alexander Cunningham. Its railing is now mostly in the Indian Museum, Kolkata.
• Trap: the Buddha in human form at Bharhut? No. Early railings show him only through symbols.
• Trap: which central Indian stupa is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1989)? Sanchi, not Bharhut [2][3].

Mains Points

• Patronage from below. Bharhut's votive inscriptions name lay men and women, monks and nuns, with their towns and trades. They show that early monumental art was paid for by many people, not only by kings. This is useful evidence for urban wealth, the role of women, and the wide social base of Buddhism.
• Text, image and folk belief combined. The labelled Jataka panels turned Buddhist teaching into stories carved in stone that anyone could follow while walking round the stupa. The yaksha and yakshi figures show Buddhism absorbing popular local cults. This is a good example of continuity and change in Indian heritage.
• Aniconic stage of Buddhist art. Bharhut shows the Buddha only through symbols. It is the starting point for tracing how Indian art moved, through the Sanchi gateways, to the human-form Buddha of Gandhara and Mathura, and later to image worship and temple forms.

Related concepts

• Stupa
• Donations to stupas
• Sanchi stupa
• Amaravati stupa
• Deorkothar stupas
• Kesariya stupa
• Bhattiprolu stupa
• Kanaganahalli
• Nagarjunakonda
• Diamond Triangle of Odisha

Read more

• Why and how stupas were built