Gupta temple at Sanchi
Also called: Temple 17, Sanchi temple 17 · Topic: Early Indian Art and Architecture: Stupas, Rock-cut Caves, Temples · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 7 "The Gupta Era: An Age of Tireless Creativity"
Meaning
This is a small Gupta stone temple, also called Temple 17, inside the Buddhist stupa complex at Sanchi (Madhya Pradesh). It dates to c. early 5th century CE. It has a flat roof, a square garbhagriha (the inner shrine room) with a single door, and a small porch held up by pillars. It is one of the earliest structural temples still standing in India. A structural temple is one built up from cut stone, not carved out of rock. It shows the simplest early form of the Indian temple.
Example
Temple 17 at Sanchi, c. 5th century CE, is just a plain square room with a four-pillared porch. It has no tower. Later temples, such as Deogarh, added a shikhara (tower).
Don't confuse with
- Great Stupa at Sanchi: a solid Buddhist relic mound that people walk around. Temple 17 is a hollow shrine room that people enter.
Related concepts
- Gupta art
- Sarnath school of art
- Mudras
- Abhaya mudra
- Bhumisparsha mudra
- Dharmachakra mudra
- Dhyana mudra
- Varada mudra
- Vitarka mudra
- Anjali mudra