INDIA: Sanchi Monuments
The town of Sanchi, in the state of
Madhaya Pradesh, counts some of India`s most important Buddhist monuments.
The foundation of this great religious site is attributed to the Mauryan
Emperor Ashoka who embarked on building monuments to Buddhism following his
own conversion around 258 BC. Among some of the fifty monuments at Sanchi,
the largest, known as the Ashoka Stupa, is 16 metres high with a
circumference of 37 metres. Constructed of bricks, and crowned by a chhatra
- a parasol-type structure, symbolic of high rank,it is reported to have
been built over sacred relics of the Buddha himself. Four carved stone
gateways placed at cardinal points around the stupa depict scenes from
events in the life of Buddha. Dedicatory inscriptions indicate that Sanchi
was a prosperous settlement, doubtless due to its proximity to the
flourishing market centre of Vidisa, 9kmto the north-east. The religious
building fervour under the Mauryans was continued during the Gupta period
but the site did not gain attention for hundreds more years, until
discovered and documented by a British officer in 1851. The Sanchi complex
was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1989. While it is primarily a
Buddhist pilgrimage site students of historic Indian temple-architecture are
occasional visitors.