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Sanchi is known for stupas, monasteries, temple and pillars
dating from the 3rd century B.C. to the 12th century A.D. The most famous
of these monuments, the Sanchi Stupa I was originally built by
Mauryan Emperor Ashoka ,the then governor of Ujjayini ,whose wife Devi was
the daughter of a merchant from adjacent Vidisha . The son Mahindra and
daughter Sanghamitra were born in Ujjayini and sent to Sri Lanka ,where they
converted the King ,the queen and their people to Buddhism
A Chunar sandstone pillar fragment, shining with the
proverbial Mauryan Polish , lies near Stupa I and carries the famous edict of
Ashoka warning ,against schism in the Buddhist community .Stupa I was
found empty ,while relics of the two disciples of Buddha enshrined in the
adjacent Stupa 3 were carried away to England . The nearby modern temple has
reliquary containing the remains of a Buddhist teacher from another stupa
outside Sanchi.
The Sanchi hill goes up in shelves with Stupa 2
situated on a lower shelf ,while Stupa I, Stupa 3, the 5th century temple No18
are on the intermediate shelf while later monastery is on the crowning shelf .
the balustrade surrounding Stupa 2, carved with aniconic representations of the
Buddha, was added in the late 2nd century B.C. under the Shungas , while
the four gateways of Stupa I were built in the 1st century B.C. under the
Satavahanas .
Carved with stories of the Buddha's past and present lives and with incidents
from the subsequent history of Buddhism, the gateways are the finest specimens
of early classical art , which formed the seedbed for the entire vocabulary of
later Indian art. Two of the moving stories told on these portals are those of
prince Vessantara, who gave away his wealth ,his wife and children out of
charity and compassion, and of Buddha who, as the monkey king, sacrificed his
life to save his companions.
The inscription on the gateways mention donors from all
over northern India and special mentions is made of the ivory workers of Vidisha
who sculpted the stone with the precision of jewelers. The adjacent Gupta
temple No17 was hailed by Sir John Marshall as one of the most rationally
organised structures in Indian architecture .Though small , it was a
herald of all the principles which went into the engineering of an Indian
temple in the perambulatory surrounding Stupa I are not contemporary with the
Stupa but belong to the Gupta period in the mid-5th century A.D.
The monastery and temple with the tall pillars adjacent to
Stupa I and the temple near the monastery on the crowning shelf illustrate the
evolution of the architectural from after the 5th century Gupta temple
Below the hill, the Archeological Survey of Indian Museum houses, some of the
earliest known stone sculptures in Indian art from the 3rd to the 1st
century B.C. While the adjacent town Vidisha has a state museum with
medieval sculptures. The nearby monuments, like the 2nd century B.C. Heliodoros
Pillar , the 5th century A.D. Udayagiri Caves and Lohangi Hill monuments in
Vidisha are situated within a radius of 10km from Sanchi are well worth a
visit.
The best time to visit between October to March. As
such the climate of Sanchi is moderate and it can be visited any time of the
year. But the summers can prove to be very hot and winters may be biting cold.
Nevertheless, it is better to visit the place during he winters.
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