sanchi stupe

8/14/2019 sanchi stupe

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PRESENTATION ON

SANCHI STUPA


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SANCHI STUPA

Location : 46 kms from Bhopal

Most Famous Stupa : The Great Stupa

Built By : Emperor Asoka

Built In : 3rd Century to 12th Century


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Staircase Leading to the Interiors of Sanchi Stupa


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FACT FILEMajor 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 theWorld.

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.


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ABOUT SANCHI..

Sanchi is a small village in Raisen District of the State of Madhya Pradesh, India,

it is located 46 km north east ofBhopal, and 10 km from Besnagar and Vidisha in

the central part of the state ofMadhya 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 ofBuddhist

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


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SANCHI

Sanchi is 68 kilometers north of Bhopal in the state of MadhyaPradesh. 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 theentire range ofIndian 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 asthe 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 situationoutside 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.


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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.

HISTORY OF THE STUPAcc..

Who built the Sanchi Stupa andWhen?


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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 ofthe 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 worldegg. 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.


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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 acomplete reconstruction after wanton damageinflicted upon it in the middle of the secondcentury BCE. The reconstruction consisted ofa stone casing, a terrace with a double flightof steps, balustrades, a paved processionalpath and an umbrella and railing -- all built ofsandstone. Four elaborately carved gateways

were added in the first century BCE.

The last addition took place duringthe rule of the Guptas, sometime before 450AD. By now effigies of the Buddha werepermitted and four stone Buddhas wereplaced against the walls of the stupa facing

the gates.


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THE ARCHITECT WORKA nearly perfect hemispherical dome, the

Great Stupa is topped by a triple "parasol" setwithin a square railing orharmika. 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 byan encircling stone balustrade. This path is

accessed from the cardinal directions through

four exquisitely carved gateways.


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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 presentdimensions. 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.


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The four gateways, ortoranas, are the finest works of art at Sanchi and are

among the finest examples of Buddhist art in India. The gateways wereerected 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 byenormous 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.


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Siddhartha Gautama (c. 563 - 483 BCE) was

the son of a local ruler. At the age of 29, hedecided 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 wasbuilt on the spot in the 3rd Century BCE.


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Wheel (Preaching the First Sermon): The wheel symbolizes the third great event in thehistorical 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.

yStupa (Parinirvana): Even though after he becameenlightened 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 atleast equal status with these rulers.


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