PRESENTATION ON

SANCHI STUPA
 SANCHI STUPA

Location : 46 kms from Bhopal

Most Famous Stupa : The Great Stupa

Built By : Emperor Asoka

Built In : 3rd Century to 12th Century

Staircase Leading to the Interiors of Sanchi Stupa
 FACT FILE
Major Attractions : 50 Stupas, Decorated Gateways,
Pillars, Relics of Buddha.
Known For :Buddhist Pilgrimage.
Renowned As :World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Must See :The Great Bowl - Used to Distribute Food
Among Monks. This Humongous Bowl Was Constructed
Out of a Single Block of Stone.
Main Theme :Episodes Form the Life of Lord Buddha.
Other Attractions :Asoka Pillar, Great Bowl.
Inside Tip :This is a World Heritage Site. Maintain
Cleanliness and do not Tamper or in Any Manner Cause
Destruction Around the Monuments.
Don't Miss :The Famous Ashokan Pillar, that Shares its
Lions with Indian Emblem.
Getting There :Air - Bhopal (46 kms) is the Nearest
Airport, Well Connected with Major Airports of the
World.
Rail - Bhopal (46 kms) is the Nearest Airport, Well
Connected with Major Airports of the World.
Road - Bus Services are Available from the Various Cities
and Towns of Madhya Pradesh.
ABOUT SANCHI……..

Sanchi is a small village in Raisen District of the State of Madhya Pradesh, India,
it is located 46 km north east of Bhopal, and 10 km from Besnagar and Vidisha in
the central part of the state of Madhya Pradesh.

It is the location of several Buddhist monuments dating from the third century
BCE to the twelfth century CE and is one of the important places of Buddhist
pilgrimage.

It is a nagar panchayat in Raisen district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

Toranas surround the Stupa and they each represent love, peace, trust, and
courage.

The 'Great Stupa' at Sanchi was originally commissioned by the emperor Ashoka
the Great in the third century BCE.

Its nucleus was a simple hemispherical brick structure built over the relics of the
Buddha.

It was crowned by the chatra, a parasol-like structure symbolising high rank,

which was intended to honour and shelter the relice
 SANCHI
Sanchi is 68 kilometers north of Bhopal in the state of Madhya
Pradesh. It is unique, not only for having the most perfect and well
preserved stupas, but also for offering the visitor a chance to see, in one
location, the genesis, flowering, and decay of Buddhist art and
architecture during a period of about 1500 years -- almost covering the
entire range of Indian Buddhism.
This is surprising since Sanchi was not hallowed by any incident
in Buddha's life nor was it the focus of any significant event in the history
of Buddhism.
Proximity to a city was of importance for Buddhist monasteries as
the monks were obliged to go begging for half of every day. The
religious duties that filled the other half day made it difficult to situate a
monastery in a noisy town.
For this reason large monastic communities sought a situation
outside a city or on a busy trade route. The Emperor Ashoka saw
Sanchi as an ideal place to give shape to his newly aroused zeal for
Buddhism. It has always been a quiet, meditative place that was,
meanwhile, located near the very prosperous city of Vidisha.
 HISTORY OF THE STUPA……..

Who built the Sanchi Stupa and When?

Ashoka Maurya (273 - 236 BCE) was the most famous of the Buddhist rulers of
India. A dozen years or so after he began his reign, about 258 BCE, he became a
convert to Buddhism. He was a great administrator and a great builder. His empire
encompassed the whole of India and Afghanistan. Ashoka's reign of paternal
despotism has been compared to that of Constantine or Cromwell. With tireless
energy he personally supervised all the affairs of government for 40 years.
His doctrine was less concerned with the analytic aspects of Buddhism and dwelled
exclusively on ethics. He dispatched missionaries to other parts of India as well as
Ceylon, Syria, Egypt, Cyrene, Macedonia, and Epirus. It is due to Ashoka that
Buddhism became, and long remained, the predominant religion of India.
The foundation of this important center at Sanchi was laid by the Emperor Ashoka
when he built a stupa and erected a monolithic pillar here. Ashoka built a total of
eight stupas on the hilltop of Sanchi including the Great Stupa. A great number of
stupas and other religious structures were added over the succeeding centuries.
With the decline of Buddhism, the site decayed and was eventually completely
forgotten. But, between 1912 and 1919, the structures were carefully repaired to
their present condition and restored.
 
 RELIGIOUS SIGNIFICANCE OF
STUPA

The stupa is the most characteristic

monument of Buddhist India. Originally stupas were
mounds covering the relics of the Buddha or his
followers. In its earliest stages Buddhist art didn't
represent the Buddha directly. Instead, his presence
was alluded to through symbols such as the bo tree,
the wheel of law or his footprint. The stupa also
became a symbol of the Buddha. More exactly, it
became a symbol of his final release from the cycle of
birth and rebirth -- the Parinirvana or the "Final
Dying."

In a larger sense the stupa is also a cosmic

symbol. Its hemispherical shape represents the world
egg. Stupas commonly rest on a square pedestal and
are carefully aligned with the four cardinal points of
the compass. This is a recurrence of the symbolism of
the dome whereby Earth supports Heaven and Heaven
covers Earth. The axis of the world is always
represented in the stupa, rising above its summit. The
so-called "parasols," set one above the other along
the shaft emerging from its uppermost region,
represent a heavenly hierarchy.
 
Contd…
significance of stupa

Stupas are large-scale memorials built in

particularly holy places. Generally they enshrine
relics of some sort. As a building type the stupa
is the forerunner of the pagoda. However, the
stupa has also come to be known, on a smaller
scale, as the reliquary itself and can be made of
crystal, gold, silver or other precious metals.

• The Great Stupa of Sanchi underwent a

complete reconstruction after wanton damage
inflicted upon it in the middle of the second
century BCE. The reconstruction consisted of a
stone casing, a terrace with a double flight of
steps, balustrades, a paved processional path
and an umbrella and railing -- all built of
sandstone. Four elaborately carved gateways
were added in the first century BCE.

• The last addition took place during the

rule of the Guptas, sometime before 450 AD. By
now effigies of the Buddha were permitted and
four stone Buddhas were placed against the
walls of the stupa facing the gates.
THE ARCHITECT WORK
A nearly perfect hemispherical dome, the
Great Stupa is topped by a triple "parasol" set
within a square railing or harmika. A third of the
way up from its base, a raised terrace, enclosed
by a fence, is meant for ritual circumambulation
of the monument. A second, stone-paved
procession-path at ground-level is enclosed by
an encircling stone balustrade. This path is
accessed from the cardinal directions through
four exquisitely carved gateways.
•The Great Stupa is 120 feet across (36.6 meters) and, excluding the railing
and umbrella, is 54 feet high (16.46 meters).
•Stupas may be made of brick, brick and rubble, or encased in masonry.
•The present stupa encases an earlier one of about half its present
dimensions. The earlier one, built of large burnt bricks and mud, has been
attributed to the Emperor Ashoka, the main reasons being that the level of its
floor is the same, and that the bricks used in it resemble those in other
Ashokan structures.
•The four gateways, or toranas, are the finest works of art at Sanchi and are
among the finest examples of Buddhist art in India. The gateways were
erected c. 35 BCE. The scenes carved into the pillars and their triple
architraves are of episodes in the various lives of the Buddha.

•The balustrades of the ground-level fence consist of a series of octagonal

uprights with lenticular crossbars mortised into them and crowned by
enormous copings rounded at the top. The outer faces of the uprights on
the berm and stairway are carved with a variety of motifs, mostly flowers.
The ground uprights, however, are austerely plain. The reproduction of the
technique of wood construction in these balustrades shows that they follow
the custom of wooden fences and are probably an innovation here.
•Siddhartha Gautama (c. 563 - 483 BCE) was
the son of a local ruler. At the age of 29, he
decided that life was a cheat, and he
renounced the world. After his
enlightenment, Buddha, or "the enlightened
one," came to Sarnath, near Benares, where
he preached his first sermon. A stupa was
built on the spot in the 3rd Century BCE.
 Symbolism:

When the Sanchi stupa was built, the Buddha was not portrayed in human form.  Maybe he was seen
as having transcended human understanding, or maybe the early Buddhists wanted to underline that
he had transcended the condition of birth-and-death that marks embodied existence.  Whatever the
reason, in this early artwork the Buddha was portrayed by certain fixed symbols, each of which
represents one of the pivotal events in his life.  These symbols are:

•Lotus or Elephant (Birth): The lotus is a pervasive Indian symbol of spiritual growth, since the lotus
seed germinates in the muck at the bottom of a pond, then the stem grows as long as is necessary (2
feet, 4 feet, 10 feet) so that the flower can blossom above the surface of the water (symbolizing
transcendence of earthly circumstances).   The elephant is connected with the story of the Buddha's
conception, in which his mother became pregnant when  a white elephant appeared in a dream and
tapped her on the abdomen with the lotus it was holding in its trunk.  The traditional account of his birth
highlights the miraculous elements: the Future Buddha emerged from his mother's side, rather than a
normal delivery; upon hitting the ground he took seven steps toward the east and announced that he
would be enlightened in that lifetime, and there were various celestial signs--rain and flowers falling
from a clear sky, a cool breeze, melodious sounds, disabled people regaining their faculties, and
many, many others.   This is traditionally believed to have occurred in Lumbini in southeastern Nepal.

•Tree (Enlightenment): This is the most important of the four events, since this is what made him the
Buddha ("Enlightened One").  According to tradition, the Buddha renounced his home after seeing the
Four Signs: an old man, a sick man, a corpse, and a wandering monk.  Old age, illness, and death are
inevitable parts of life--and for the Buddha seemed to have been a shorthand for all of life's
unsatisfactory elements--whereas the fourth was a hint that these could be transcended.  According to
tradition, the Buddha left his home at the age of 29, and spent the next six years studying with various
teachers and trying various techniques (most notably strict fasting) to find the solution to old age,
illness, and death, but was unsuccessful.  He then sat down underneath a ficus tree in Bodh Gaya
(modern Bihar), and began to meditate on the question of birth-and-death with a focused mind.  His
analysis eventually revealed the causal chain that leads to rebirth, known as pratityasamutpada
•Wheel (Preaching the First Sermon): The wheel symbolizes the third great event in the
historical Buddha's life, in which he "turned the wheel of dharma" by preaching his first
sermon (The Four Noble Truths) at Sarnath, near modern Benares.  If the tree stands for
the enlightened being, the wheel represents his career as a teacher.  In order to find
suitable hearers for his message, the Buddha walked 130 miles to Sarnath from Bodh Gaya
(where he was enlightened).  According to tradition he was enlightened on the full moon in
Vaisakh (April-May); this is the hottest part of the year, with temperatures hitting over 110
degrees every day.  Tradition relates that the Buddha was initially reluctant to teach others,
since he reportedly doubted whether others would be able to understand what he was trying
to convey, but traveling such a long distance in such blistering heat testifies to the strength
of his resolve.

Stupa (Parinirvana): Even though after he became



enlightened the Buddha passed beyond being subject to birth

and death (or rather ensured that he would not be reborn
after his present life), his body was like any other human
body.  At the age of 80--a very long life for that time--he ate a
bad meal (either pork or mushrooms, the text is ambiguous
and can be read either way), got dysentery, and died of
dehydration (the story is so inglorious it is more likely to be
true).  Tradition reports that he maintained his composure to
the end, even blessing the man who had fed him that meal,
and also directed his followers to burn his body and then
place the remains in a stupa.  His rationale was that this was
the burial mode for kings, and so here he was claiming at
least equal status with these rulers. 
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