Donations to stupas
Topic: Early Indian Art and Architecture: Stupas, Rock-cut Caves, Temples · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 4 "Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings"
Meaning
Big stupas were not paid for by kings alone. Short donation inscriptions, cut on stupa railings and pillars, name the people who gave money. The givers included kings such as the Satavahanas, and guilds, which were groups of craftsmen in the same trade. Hundreds of ordinary men and women also gave, often naming their village, job and relatives. Bhikkhus and bhikkhunis (Buddhist monks and nuns) gave too. So these inscriptions show that monuments were built by society at large, not only by rulers.
Example
At Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh, an inscription says that the ivory workers' guild of Vidisha paid for part of one of the carved gateways of the Great Stupa.
Related concepts
- Stupa
- Sanchi stupa
- Bharhut stupa
- Amaravati stupa
- Deorkothar stupas
- Kesariya stupa
- Bhattiprolu stupa
- Kanaganahalli
- Nagarjunakonda
- Diamond Triangle of Odisha