Sanchi stupa

Also called: Great Stupa at Sanchi, Sanchi World Heritage Site, Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi · Topic: Early Indian Art and Architecture: Stupas, Rock-cut Caves, Temples · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 4 "New Beginnings: Cities and States"; Class 7, Ch 5 "The Rise of Empires"; Class 9, Ch 4 "Early Humans and Beginning of Civilisation"; Class 9, Ch 5 "State and Society up to 1000 CE"; Class 12, Ch 4 "Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings"

Meaning

The Sanchi stupa, also called the Great Stupa at Sanchi, is a Buddhist relic mound on a hill near Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh. It was first built in the 3rd century BCE under the Mauryan emperor Asoka. Later it was surrounded by a heavy stone railing with four carved gateways (toranas) [2][3].

It matters because it shows the stupa form in its clearest early shape. Its inscriptions also show who paid for Buddhist monuments: kings, guilds, monks, nuns and ordinary people. The Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1989 [2][3].

Explanation

Why it was built: background

• A stupa is a mound. Inside it lay relics of the Buddha: bits of his body, or objects he had used.
• Making mounds over the dead was probably older than Buddhism. Buddhism took this old custom and gave it a new meaning.
• The relic made the whole mound sacred.
• People worshipped the entire stupa, not just the hidden relic.

• The stupa stood as an emblem (a standing symbol) of the Buddha and of Buddhism.

• Two texts gave Buddhists a reason to build:

• Mahaparinibbana Sutta (the text on the Buddha's death): the dying Buddha tells Ananda to raise a thupa (Pali for stupa) "at the four crossroads". This means a public place where many people pass.

• Ashokavadana (a later text about Asoka): Asoka shared out the Buddha's relics to every important town and ordered a stupa over each one.

• The Great Stupa at Sanchi is believed to hold the ashes of the Buddha [2][3].

Its parts: how a stupa was built

• Anda: the solid, half-ball-shaped dome. "Anda" means egg. It hides the relic [5].
• Medhi: the round terrace (drum) the dome sits on. A railing runs around it. Devotees walk on it clockwise. This is circumambulation (walking round a holy object while keeping it on your right) [5].
• Harmika: a small box-shaped relic chamber on top of the dome [5].
• Yashti: the central pillar rising from the harmika. It stands for the axis of the universe [5].
• Chattra: the triple umbrella on the yashti. The three umbrellas stand for the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the dharma (his teaching) and the sangha (the community of monks and nuns) [5].
• Railing and four gateways: a heavy stone railing surrounds the Sanchi stupa. Four gateways (toranas) break it [2][3].
• Materials: the core was brick or rubble with a stone facing. Carving went on the parts a visitor touched and saw while walking round: the railings, the gateways and the drum slabs.

Style and carvings

• The gateways are covered with carvings. They show scenes from the Buddha's life and stories of his earlier births (Jataka-type tales) [2][3].
• The earliest art at stupas like this does not show the Buddha as a human figure. Symbols stand for him instead.
• Carved railings are the mark of the great early stupas: Bharhut (Madhya Pradesh), Sanchi and Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) [5].

Who paid for it

• The evidence is votive inscriptions. These are short gift records cut into railing pillars, cross-bars and gateway parts. Each one names the donor of that single piece.
• Each donor paid for a part, not the whole.

• So a huge monument could be built without one single patron.

• Donors named in stupa inscriptions:

• Kings, the Satavahanas among them.
• Guilds (groups of craftspeople or traders). The ivory workers of Vidisha are named at Sanchi. At least one gateway is credited to an ivory carvers' guild [2].
• Hundreds of ordinary men and women. They wrote down their home town, their work and the names of relatives.
• Bhikkhus and bhikkhunis (Buddhist monks and nuns), even though they were supposed to own nothing.

Time, place and evidence

• Place: a hill near Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh.
• First built: 3rd century BCE, under the Mauryan emperor Asoka [2][3].
• Standing by: the 2nd century BCE, along with the stupas at Bharhut and Sarnath.
• Key people: Asoka (the first builder, according to tradition and the Ashokavadana), the ivory workers of Vidisha (donors to a gateway) [2], and many lay and monastic donors.
• How we know:
• Archaeology: digs at Sanchi found relic caskets (small boxes holding remains) [2].
• Inscriptions: more than 400 epigraphical records (inscriptions) have been found at the site [2].
• Texts: the Mahaparinibbana Sutta and the Ashokavadana explain why stupas were built.

• Carvings on the railing and gateways show Buddhist stories and ideas [2][3].

• Heritage status: inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1989 as the Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi [2][3].

Don't confuse with

• Amaravati stupa (Andhra Pradesh): also has carved railings, but it is in the Andhra region, not near Vidisha. Its four ayaka platforms (projecting ledges on the drum, each with five pillars) gave seven crystal relic caskets and one ivory casket [4]. Sanchi is the one with four toranas and 400+ inscriptions [2].
• Bharhut stupa: also in Madhya Pradesh and also known for carved railings [5]. But the UNESCO site with four gateways and Asoka as founder is Sanchi.
• Mahaparinibbana Sutta vs Ashokavadana: the first has the Buddha telling Ananda to build a thupa "at the four crossroads". The second has Asoka sharing out relics to every important town.
• Harmika vs anda: the anda is the big dome. The harmika is the small box-shaped relic chamber on top of the dome [5].

Prelims Hooks

• Great Stupa, Sanchi: built under Asoka, 3rd century BCE. It has a stone railing with four gateways and is believed to hold the Buddha's ashes [2][3].
• Over 400 inscriptions and relic caskets have been found at Sanchi [2].
• The ivory workers of Vidisha paid for part of a Sanchi gateway [2].
• Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi: UNESCO World Heritage, 1989 [2][3].
• Chattra's three umbrellas = Three Jewels (Buddha, dharma, sangha). Yashti = axis of the universe [5].
• Trap: the stupas standing by the 2nd century BCE were Bharhut, Sanchi, Sarnath. Amaravati's caskets came from ayaka platforms, not from Sanchi [4].

Mains Points

• Patronage came from below as much as from above.
• Votive inscriptions name kings (Satavahanas), guilds such as the ivory workers of Vidisha, monks and nuns, and hundreds of ordinary donors with their town and trade [2].

• This shows that early Indian monumental art was not only a court product. It also shows urban craft wealth and women donors.

• Sharing relics helped spread the religion and gave rulers prestige.

• The Ashokavadana says Asoka sent relics to every important town. This explains why stupas appear in many regions in the 3rd–2nd centuries BCE.

• Building over a relic linked the ruler to the Buddha and made the new site holy at once.

• Continuity and change in design and symbols.

• An older burial-mound custom, probably pre-Buddhist, was given a Buddhist meaning.
• Ritual is built into the design: the medhi is for clockwise circumambulation, the yashti is the world-axis, and the chattra stands for the Three Jewels [5].
• Early railings at Bharhut, Sanchi and Amaravati show the Buddha through symbols, not a human figure [5]. The later Gandhara and Mathura schools broke from this.

Related concepts

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

Read more

• Why and how stupas were built