Sanchi

After Ashoka's accession, Mahendra headed a Buddhist mission, sent probably under the auspices of the Emperor, to Sri Lanka, and that before setting out to the island he visited his mother at Chetiyagiri near Vidisa, thought to be Sanchi.

[15] The sandstone out of which the pillar is carved came from the quarries of Chunar several hundred miles away, implying that the builders were able to transport a block of stone over forty feet in length and weighing almost as many tons over such a distance.

[22] The style of the Shunga period decorations at Sanchi bear a close similarity to those of Bharhut, as well as the peripheral balustrades at the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya.

[27] This seems to imply that foreign workers from the north-west (from the region of Gandhara, where Kharoshthi was the current script) were responsible for the motifs and figures that can be found on the railings of the stupa.

[39] This gave the Satavahanas access to the Buddhist site of Sanchi, in which they are credited with the building of the decorated gateways around the original Mauryan Empire and Sunga stupas.

[44][45] The reliefs show scenes from the life of the Buddha integrated with everyday events that would be familiar to the onlookers and so make it easier for them to understand the Buddhist creed as relevant to their lives.

However Ashoka was profoundly grieved when he discovered that the sacred pipal tree was not properly being taken care of and dying out due to the neglect of Queen Tiṣyarakṣitā.

In all these scenes, the Buddha is never represented, being absent altogether even from scenes of his life where he is playing a central role: in the Miracle of the Buddha walking on the river Nairanjana he is just represented by his path on the water;[92] in the Procession of king Suddhodana from Kapilavastu, he walks in the air at the end of the procession, but his presence is only suggested by people turning their heads upward toward the symbol of his path.

[94] The gateways depict various scenes of the life of the Buddha, as well as events after his death, in particular the War of the Relics and the efforts of emperor Ashoka to spread the Buddhist faith.

[99] About two centuries later, in order to spread the Buddhist faith, Asoka endeavored to gather the eight shares of the relics to divide them up, and distribute them among 84,000 stupas, which he himself erected.

To the right, the Emperor Asoka is approaching in his chariot, accompanied by a retinue of elephants, horsemen and footmen; and to the left, the Nagas and Nagis, in human form with serpent hoods, worshiping at the stupa, bringing offerings, or emerging from the waters of a lotus-pond.

[41] At the least, the delicacy of workmanship and spatial effect attained in the panel of the Trayastrimsa heaven is particularly striking, and makes it understandable that, as the inscription on it records, it was the work of ivory-carvers of Vidisha.

Towards the left end of the panel is the pipal tree at Bodh Gaya with an umbrella and streamers above, and, in front, the diamond throne (Vajrasana) of the Buddha, whereon he sat when he withstood the temptations and threats of Mara, the Satan of Buddhism, and when he attained to Buddhahood.

It was beneath a mango tree that, according to the Pali texts, Buddha performed the great miracle at Sravasti, when he walked in the air, and flames broke from his shoulders and streams of water from his feet.

[103] In the anthropomorphic (non-aniconic) Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara, the Buddha would simply be shown in his human form, rising slightly in the air, with flames springing from his feet and water emanating from his shoulders.

[108] In the foreground, to the right, is a leaf-hut (parna-sala) and an ascetic at its threshold seated on a mat, with his knees bound up by a band and his hair (jafa) twisted turban-wise about his head.

The other figures in this panel, of two novices bringing wood and provisions, are mere accessories, while the stupa in the background, decorated with shell designs and surrounded by a square railing, serves to give local color to the scene.

The Buddha walking in mid-air is represented, as on the Northern Gateway, by his promenade (chankrama); and suggested by the upturned faces of the king and his retinue as they gaze wonderingly on the miracle.

The topmost panel of all, with two figures seated on a terrace and attendants behind, is treated quite differently from the Devalokas below and appears to represent the lowest of the Brahmaloka, which according to the Buddhist ideas rise above the inferior heavens.

In the Mahabhinishkramana scene on the East Gateway we have already seen that the artist inserted a jambu tree in the middle of the panel, to remind the spectator of the first meditation of the Bodhisattva and the path on which it led him.

Devadatta, the jealous and wicked cousin of the Buddha, was in that life one of the monkeys and, thinking it a good chance to destroy his enemy, jumped on the Bodhisattva's back and broke his heart.

The Western Satraps remained well into the 4th century as shown by the nearby Kanakerha inscription mentioning the construction of a well by the Saka chief and "righteous conqueror" Sridharavarman, who ruled c. 339 – c. 368 CE.

The four columns are more traditional, the octagonal shafts rising from square bases to bell capitals, surmounted by large abacus blocks carved with back-to-back lions.

Apart from its design, it is distinguished from the other pillars on the site by the unusual quality and colour of its stone, which is harder than that ordinarily quarried in the Udayagiri hill, and of a pale buff hue splashed and streaked with amethyst.

On the northwest side of the lowest section, which is still in situ, is a short mutilated inscription in Gupta characters recording the gift of the pillar by a viharasvamin (master of a monastery), the son of Gotaisimhabala.

Also, the reliefs on the circular abacus, consist of birds and lotuses of unequal sizes disposed in irregular fashion, not with the symmetrical precision of earlier Indian art.

[127] The Government of India Photo Division describes it in this image as "An Asoka pillar and its broken lion capital near the south gateway of the Great Stupa."

Although the jungle had overgrown the complex, several of the Gateways were still standing, and Sanchi, being situated on a hill, had escaped the onslaught of the Muslim conquerors who had destroyed the nearby city of Vidisha (Bhilsa) only 5 miles away.

General Henry Taylor (1784–1876) who was a British officer in the Third Maratha War of 1817–1819, was the first known Western historian to document in 1818 (in English) the existence of Sanchi Stupa.

[154][155] An analysis of the donation records[156] shows that while a large fraction of the donors were local (with no town specified), a number of them were from Ujjain, Vidisha, Kurara, Nadinagar, Mahisati, Kurghara, Bhogavadhan and Kamdagigam.

The Ashoka pillar at Sanchi.
Plan of the monuments of the hill of Sanchi, numbered 1 to 50.
The Great Stupa under the Sungas . The Sungas nearly doubled the diameter of the initial stupa, encasing it in stone, and built a balustrade and a railing around it.
Mason's marks in Kharoshti indicate that craftsmen from the north-west were responsible for foreign reliefs of Stupa No. 2. [ 27 ] This medallion was made circa 115 BCE. [ 28 ]
Sunga period railings were initially blank (left: Great Stupa), and only started to be decorated circa 115 BCE with Stupa No.2 (right). [ 29 ] [ 30 ]
Sunga pillar No25 with own capital on the side.
Inscription "Vedisakehi daṃtakārehi rupakaṃmaṃ kataṃ" ( 𑀯𑁂𑀤𑀺𑀲𑀓𑁂𑀨𑀺 𑀤𑀁𑀢𑀓𑀸𑀭𑁂𑀨𑀺 𑀭𑀼𑀧𑀓𑀁𑀫𑀁 𑀓𑀢𑀁 , "Ivory workers from Vidisha have done the carving"). [ 43 ]
The Great Stupa at the time of the Satavahanas .
Temptation of the Buddha, with the Buddha on the left (symbolized by his throne only) surrounded by rejoicing devotees, Mara and his daughters (center), and the demons of Mara fleeing (right). [ 63 ]
War over the Buddha's Relics, kept by the city of Kushinagar , South Gate, Stupa no.1, Sanchi. [ 68 ]
King Ashoka visits Ramagrama , to take relics of the Buddha from the Nagas , but he failed, the Nagas being too powerful. Southern gateway, Stupa 1, Southern Gateway, Sanchi. [ 72 ]
Ashoka in grief, supported by his two queens, in a relief at Sanchi. Stupa 1, Southern gateway. The identification with Ashoka is confirm by a similar relief from Kanaganahalli inscribed "Raya Asoko". [ 73 ] [ 74 ] [ 72 ]
Bodhi tree temple depicted in Sanchi, Stupa 1, Southern gateway.
Foreign devotees and musicians on the Northern Gateway of Stupa I. [ 76 ]
Aniconism in Miracle at Kapilavastu : King Suddhodana praying as his son the Buddha rises in the air, praised by celestial beings (but only his path, the horizontal slab in the air, is visible). [ 91 ]
"The promenade of the Buddha", or Chankrama , used to depict the Buddha in motion in Buddhist aniconism .
The Siri-Satakani inscription
This Sanchi relief permitted this reconstruction of the city of Kushinagara circa 500 BCE.
The actual " Diamond throne " at Bodh Gaya , built by Ashoka c. 260 BCE .
The Buddha in levitation performing the Miracle of Sravasti, Gandhara, 100-200 CE.
Jetavana story, Bharhut , 2nd century BCE.
The same scene in the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara . Loriyan Tangai .
Foreigners playing carnyxes and aulos flute at Sanchi (detail).
The same scene in the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara .
The Diamond throne as discovered.
At the top of the panel, Maya 's dream of the visit of an elephant, in Kapilavastu . See also Maya's Dream (in "The life of Buddha)" .
Ruler of the Mallakas of Kushinagara under siege (left end of the architrave).
Full relief. [ 113 ]
The Mahakapi Jataka in Bharhut .
Floral scrolls in the art of Gandhara.
This would be the Ashokan capital (wheel lost) depicted in this panel.
Stupas and monasteries at Sanchi in the early centuries of the Common Era. Reconstruction, 1900
Sanchi inscription of Chandragupta II .
Temple 17: a Gupta period tetrastyle prostyle temple of Classical appearance. 5th century CE [ 122 ]
Pillar 26: one of the two four-lions stambha capitals at Sanchi, with lions, central flame palmette and Wheel of Law (axis, stubs of the spokes and part of the circumference only), initially located at the Northern Gateway of the Great Stupa. Sanchi Archaeological Museum .
Pillar 26: lion pillar capital at time of discovery, with Dharmachakra wheel (reconstruction). Northern Gateway. [ 128 ]
Pillar 35 column stump (right), and bell capital with abacus , positioned upside down.
Vajrapani statue of pillar 35, 5th c. CE. Sanchi Archaeological Museum .
Temple 18 at Sanchi, an apsidal hall with Maurya foundations, rebuilt at the time of Harsha (7th century CE).
The Great Stupa as breached by Sir Herbert Maddock in 1822. Watercolor by Frederick Charles Maisey , in 1851.
Ruins of the Southern Gateway, Sanchi in 1875.
A Gate to the Stupa of Sanchi 1932
Chetiyagiri Vihara
Inscribed panel from Sanchi in Brahmi script in the British Museum [ 152 ]
The last two letters to the right of this inscription in Brahmi form the word "dǎnam" (donation). This hypothesis permitted the decipherment of the Brahmi script by James Prinsep in 1837. [ 153 ]