Difference between revisions of "Sanchi" - New World Encyclopedia
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| − | '''Sanchi''' | + | '''Sanchi''' refers to a small village in [[India]] located 46 km north east of [[Bhopal]], and ten km from [[Besnagar]] and [[Vidisha]] in the central part of the state of [[Madhya Pradesh]]. The village hosts several [[Buddhist]] monuments dating from the third century B.C.E. to the twelfth century CE. The town exists as a nagar panchayat (town committee or council) in [[Raisen district]] in the Indian [[States and territories of India|state]] of Madhya Pradesh. |
| − | The emperor [[Ashoka|Ashoka the Great]] originally commissioned the 'Great [[Stupa]]' at Sanchi in the third century B.C.E. Its nucleus had been a simple hemispherical brick structure built over the relics of the [[Buddha]], crowned by the ''chhatra'', a parasol-like structure symbolising high rank, intended to | + | Sanchi situates at {{coor d|23.48|N|77.73|E|}}<ref>[http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IN/35/Sanchi.html Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Sanchi]</ref>, measuring an average elevation of 434 [[metre]]s (1423 [[foot (unit of length)|feet]]). As of 2001 India [[census]]<ref>{{GR|India}}</ref>, Sanchi had a population of 6,785. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Sanchi has an average literacy rate of 67%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy, 75%; female literacy 57%. 16% of the population has been reported under 6 years of age. |
| + | |||
| + | ==History== | ||
| + | The emperor [[Ashoka|Ashoka the Great]] originally commissioned the 'Great [[Stupa]]' at Sanchi in the third century B.C.E. Its nucleus had been a simple hemispherical brick structure built over the relics of the [[Buddha]], crowned by the ''chhatra'', a parasol-like structure symbolising high rank, intended to honor and shelter the relics<ref>Dehejia, Vidya. (1997). ''Indian Art''. Phaidon: London. ISBN 0-7148-3496-3. | ||
</ref>. | </ref>. | ||
<br/> | <br/> | ||
<br/> | <br/> | ||
| − | ==Sunga period== | + | ===Sunga period=== |
| − | The stupa had been vandalized at one point, sometime in the second century B.C.E., an event some have related to the rise of the Sunga emperor [[Pusyamitra Sunga]]. | + | The stupa had been vandalized at one point, sometime in the second century B.C.E., an event some have related to the rise of the Sunga emperor [[Pusyamitra Sunga]]. Some have suggested that Pushyamitra may have destroyed the original stupa, and his son Agnimitra rebuilt it.<ref>"Who was responsible for the wanton destruction of the original brick stupa of [[Asoka]] and when precisely the great work of reconstruction was carried out is not known, but it seems probable that the author of the former was [[Pusyamitra Sunga|Pushyamitra]], the first of the [[Sunga]] kings (184-148 B.C.E.), who was notorious for his hostility to Buddhism, and that the restoration was affected by [[Agnimitra]] or his immediate successor." in John Marshall, ''A Guide to Sanchi,'' p. 38. Calcutta: Superintendent, Government Printing (1918).</ref> |
| − | During the later rule of the Sunga, craftsmen expanded the stupa with stone slabs to almost twice its original size. Architects flattened the dome near the top | + | During the later rule of the Sunga, craftsmen expanded the stupa with stone slabs to almost twice its original size. Architects flattened the dome near the top, crowning it by three superimposed parasols inside a square railing. With its many tiers, it represented the symbol of the [[dharma]], the Wheel of the Law. |
| − | ==Satavahana period== | + | The dome sat on a high circular drum meant for circumambulation, which could be accessed via a double staircase. A stone balustrade with four monumental gateways ([[torana]]s) facing the cardinal directions enclosed a second stone pathway at ground level. The Second and Third stupas, along with the ground balustrade and stone casing of the Great Stupa, had probably been commissioned during the rule of the Sungas. Inscriptions suggest that the highly decorated gateways came from the following [[Satavahana]] period. |
| + | |||
| + | ===Satavahana period=== | ||
{{Infobox Indian Jurisdiction | | {{Infobox Indian Jurisdiction | | ||
native_name = Sanchi | | native_name = Sanchi | | ||
| Line 38: | Line 43: | ||
}} | }} | ||
| − | The gateways and the balustrade | + | The gateways and the balustrade had been built after 70 B.C.E., apparently commissioned by the [[Satavahana]]. An inscription records the gift of one of the top [[architrave]]s of the Southern Gateway by the artisans of the Satavahana king [[Satakarni]]: |
:"Gift of Ananda, the son of Vasithi, the foreman of the artisans of rajan Siri Satakarni"<ref>Original text "L1: Rano Siri Satakarnisa L2: avesanisa vasithiputasa L3: Anamdasa danam," John Marshall, "A guide to Sanchi," p. 52</ref>. | :"Gift of Ananda, the son of Vasithi, the foreman of the artisans of rajan Siri Satakarni"<ref>Original text "L1: Rano Siri Satakarnisa L2: avesanisa vasithiputasa L3: Anamdasa danam," John Marshall, "A guide to Sanchi," p. 52</ref>. | ||
| − | Although made of stone, they | + | Although made of stone, they had been carved and constructed in the manner of wood, narrative sculptures covering the gateways. They showed scenes from the life of the Buddha integrated into everyday events familiar to the onlookers, making it easier for them to understand the Buddhist creed as related to their lives. At Sanchi, the local people had donated money for the embellishment of the stupa as a way to attain spiritual merit, a common practice at the time. The shrine had been embellished without direct royal patronage. |
| − | + | Devotees, both men and women, who donated money towards a sculpture would often choose their favorite scene from the life of the Buddha and then have their names inscribed on it. That accounts for the random repetition of particular episodes on the stupa (Dehejia 1992). The artisans never depicted Buddha as a human figure on those stone carvings. Instead they chose to represent him by displaying certain attributes, such as the horse on which he left his father’s home, his footprints, or a canopy under the [[bodhi tree]] at the point of his Enlightenment. Buddhist theology considered the human body too confining for the depiction of Buddha. | |
| − | ==Later periods== | + | Some of the friezes of Sanchi also show devotees in Greek attire (Greek clothing, attitudes, and musical instruments) celebrating the stupa<ref>"A guide to Sanchi" John Marshall. Susan Huntington, "The art of ancient India," p. 100, also described those "Greek-looking foreigners"</ref>. |
| + | |||
| + | ===Later periods=== | ||
{{BuddhasHolySites}} | {{BuddhasHolySites}} | ||
| − | + | Additional stupas, as well as religious Buddhist and early [[Hindu]] structures, had been added over the centuries until the 12th century CE. Temple Seventeen represents one of the earliest Buddhist [[temples]], dating to the early [[Gupta]] period. It consists of a flat roofed square sanctum with a portico and four pillars. The interior and three sides of the exterior have a plain, undecorated appearance whereas the front and the pillars had been elegantly carved, giving the temple an almost ‘classical’ appearance (Mitra 1971). | |
| − | With the decline of [[Buddhism]], the monuments of Sanchi | + | With the decline of [[Buddhism]], the monuments of Sanchi fell into disuse, declining into a state of neglect. |
| − | ==Western rediscovery== | + | ===Western rediscovery=== |
| − | + | General Taylor, a British officer, made the first recorded rediscovery of Sanchi in 1818. Amateur [[archaeologists]] and treasure hunters had ravaged the site until 1881, when proper restoration work began. Between 1912 and 1919, the goverment restored the structures to their present condition under the supervision of [[John Marshall (archaeologist)|Sir John Marshall]].<ref>[http://projectsouthasia.sdstate.edu/docs/archaeology/primarydocs/Sanchi/HistArt.htm John Marshall, "An Historical and Artistic Description of Sanchi," from ''A Guide to Sanchi,'' Calcutta: Superintendent, Government Printing (1918). pp. 7-29 on line, Project South Asia.]</ref> | |
| − | Today, | + | Today, approximately fifty monuments remain on the hill of Sanchi, including three stupas and several temples. [[UNESCO]] designated the monuments a [[World Heritage Site]] in 1989. |
<br/> | <br/> | ||
<br/> | <br/> | ||
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| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
==Gallery== | ==Gallery== | ||
<gallery> | <gallery> | ||
| − | Image:SanchiIndoGreekFrieze.jpg|Foreigners of [[Indo-Greek]] appearance (wearing the [[chlamys]] cape over short [[chiton]] tunics, with short curly hair and headbands, playing [[carnyx]] (κάρνυξ) trumpets lower left) | + | Image:SanchiIndoGreekFrieze.jpg|Foreigners of [[Indo-Greek]] appearance (wearing the [[chlamys]] cape over short [[chiton]] tunics, with short curly hair and headbands, playing [[carnyx]] (κάρνυξ) trumpets lower left) honoring the Sanchi stupa with gifts, prayers and music. Northern Gateway, Sanchi, India. 2nd-1st century B.C.E. <!--(Click image for reference).—> |
Image:SanchiGateSymbol.jpg|The compound Buddhist symbols: [[Shrivatsa]] within a [[triratana]], over a [[Chakra]] wheel, on the Tonana gate at Sanchi. | Image:SanchiGateSymbol.jpg|The compound Buddhist symbols: [[Shrivatsa]] within a [[triratana]], over a [[Chakra]] wheel, on the Tonana gate at Sanchi. | ||
Image:Sanchi.jpg|Carved decoration of the Northern gateway to the Great Stupa of Sanchi | Image:Sanchi.jpg|Carved decoration of the Northern gateway to the Great Stupa of Sanchi | ||
| − | |||
</gallery> | </gallery> | ||
| Line 80: | Line 81: | ||
== Notes == | == Notes == | ||
| − | |||
{{reflist}} | {{reflist}} | ||
== References == | == References == | ||
| − | |||
* Dehejia, Vidya. (1992). Collective and Popular Bases of Early Buddhist Patronage: Sacred Monuments, 100 B.C.E.-AD 250. In B. Stoler Miller (ed.) ''The Powers of Art''. Oxford University Press: Oxford. ISBN 0-19-562842-X. | * Dehejia, Vidya. (1992). Collective and Popular Bases of Early Buddhist Patronage: Sacred Monuments, 100 B.C.E.-AD 250. In B. Stoler Miller (ed.) ''The Powers of Art''. Oxford University Press: Oxford. ISBN 0-19-562842-X. | ||
* Dehejia, Vidya. (1997). ''Indian Art''. Phaidon: London. ISBN 0-7148-3496-3. | * Dehejia, Vidya. (1997). ''Indian Art''. Phaidon: London. ISBN 0-7148-3496-3. | ||
| Line 90: | Line 89: | ||
== External links == | == External links == | ||
| − | + | * [http://www.bergerfoundation.ch/wat4/museum1?museum=Sanchi&col=pays&country=Inde&genre=%&cd=7256-3191-2328:7256-3191-2325:7256-3191-2326&cdindex=2"Sanchi (Madhya Pradesh)," Jacques-Edouard Berger Foundation, World Art Treasures]. Retrieved November 13, 2007. | |
| − | * [http://www.bergerfoundation.ch/wat4/museum1?museum=Sanchi&col=pays&country=Inde&genre=%&cd=7256-3191-2328:7256-3191-2325:7256-3191-2326&cdindex=2"Sanchi (Madhya Pradesh)," Jacques-Edouard Berger Foundation, World Art Treasures] | + | * [http://www.buddhanet.net/sanchi.htm Buddhist Art and Architecture: Hill at Sanchi]. Retrieved November 13, 2007. |
| − | + | * [http://www.art-and-archaeology.com/india/sanchi/san0.html Ancient India: Sanchi]. Retrieved November 13, 2007. | |
| + | * [http://rogershepherd.com/WIW/solution12/stupa.html The Great Stupa at Sanchi]. Retrieved November 13, 2007. | ||
| + | * [http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=524 UNESCO World Heritate Sites: Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi]. Retrieved November 13, 2007. | ||
| + | * [http://www.world-heritage-tour.org/asia/in/sanchi/map.html 360° views of Sanchi stupas]. Retrieved November 13, 2007. | ||
{{World Heritage Sites in India}} | {{World Heritage Sites in India}} | ||
{{credits|170224071}} | {{credits|170224071}} | ||
Revision as of 17:52, 13 November 2007
| Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi* | |
|---|---|
| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
| |
| State Party |  India
|
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | (i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(vi) |
| Reference | 524 |
| Region** | Asia-Pacific |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 1989 (13th Session) |
| * Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. ** Region as classified by UNESCO. | |
Sanchi refers to a small village in India located 46 km north east of Bhopal, and ten km from Besnagar and Vidisha in the central part of the state of Madhya Pradesh. The village hosts several Buddhist monuments dating from the third century B.C.E. to the twelfth century CE. The town exists as a nagar panchayat (town committee or council) in Raisen district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
Sanchi situates at [1], measuring an average elevation of 434 metres (1423 feet). As of 2001 India census[2], Sanchi had a population of 6,785. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Sanchi has an average literacy rate of 67%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy, 75%; female literacy 57%. 16% of the population has been reported under 6 years of age.
History
The emperor Ashoka the Great originally commissioned the 'Great Stupa' at Sanchi in the third century B.C.E. Its nucleus had been a simple hemispherical brick structure built over the relics of the Buddha, crowned by the chhatra, a parasol-like structure symbolising high rank, intended to honor and shelter the relics[3].
Sunga period
The stupa had been vandalized at one point, sometime in the second century B.C.E., an event some have related to the rise of the Sunga emperor Pusyamitra Sunga. Some have suggested that Pushyamitra may have destroyed the original stupa, and his son Agnimitra rebuilt it.[4]
During the later rule of the Sunga, craftsmen expanded the stupa with stone slabs to almost twice its original size. Architects flattened the dome near the top, crowning it by three superimposed parasols inside a square railing. With its many tiers, it represented the symbol of the dharma, the Wheel of the Law.
The dome sat on a high circular drum meant for circumambulation, which could be accessed via a double staircase. A stone balustrade with four monumental gateways (toranas) facing the cardinal directions enclosed a second stone pathway at ground level. The Second and Third stupas, along with the ground balustrade and stone casing of the Great Stupa, had probably been commissioned during the rule of the Sungas. Inscriptions suggest that the highly decorated gateways came from the following Satavahana period.
Satavahana period
| Sanchi Madhya Pradesh • India | |
 | |
| Coordinates: | |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
| District(s) | Vidisha |
| Population | 6,785 (2001) |
Coordinates:
The gateways and the balustrade had been built after 70 B.C.E., apparently commissioned by the Satavahana. An inscription records the gift of one of the top architraves of the Southern Gateway by the artisans of the Satavahana king Satakarni:
- "Gift of Ananda, the son of Vasithi, the foreman of the artisans of rajan Siri Satakarni"[5].
Although made of stone, they had been carved and constructed in the manner of wood, narrative sculptures covering the gateways. They showed scenes from the life of the Buddha integrated into everyday events familiar to the onlookers, making it easier for them to understand the Buddhist creed as related to their lives. At Sanchi, the local people had donated money for the embellishment of the stupa as a way to attain spiritual merit, a common practice at the time. The shrine had been embellished without direct royal patronage.
Devotees, both men and women, who donated money towards a sculpture would often choose their favorite scene from the life of the Buddha and then have their names inscribed on it. That accounts for the random repetition of particular episodes on the stupa (Dehejia 1992). The artisans never depicted Buddha as a human figure on those stone carvings. Instead they chose to represent him by displaying certain attributes, such as the horse on which he left his father’s home, his footprints, or a canopy under the bodhi tree at the point of his Enlightenment. Buddhist theology considered the human body too confining for the depiction of Buddha.
Some of the friezes of Sanchi also show devotees in Greek attire (Greek clothing, attitudes, and musical instruments) celebrating the stupa[6].
Later periods
| Pilgrimage to Buddha's Holy Sites |
|
| The Four Main Sites |
|---|
| Lumbini · Bodh Gaya Sarnath · Kushinagar |
| Four Additional Sites |
| Sravasti · Rajgir Sankissa · Vaishali |
| Other Sites |
| Patna · Gaya Kausambi · Mathura Kapilavastu · Devadaha Kesariya · Pava Nalanda · Varanasi |
Additional stupas, as well as religious Buddhist and early Hindu structures, had been added over the centuries until the 12th century CE. Temple Seventeen represents one of the earliest Buddhist temples, dating to the early Gupta period. It consists of a flat roofed square sanctum with a portico and four pillars. The interior and three sides of the exterior have a plain, undecorated appearance whereas the front and the pillars had been elegantly carved, giving the temple an almost ‘classical’ appearance (Mitra 1971).
With the decline of Buddhism, the monuments of Sanchi fell into disuse, declining into a state of neglect.
Western rediscovery
General Taylor, a British officer, made the first recorded rediscovery of Sanchi in 1818. Amateur archaeologists and treasure hunters had ravaged the site until 1881, when proper restoration work began. Between 1912 and 1919, the goverment restored the structures to their present condition under the supervision of Sir John Marshall.[7]
Today, approximately fifty monuments remain on the hill of Sanchi, including three stupas and several temples. UNESCO designated the monuments a World Heritage Site in 1989.
Gallery
- SanchiIndoGreekFrieze.jpg
Foreigners of Indo-Greek appearance (wearing the chlamys cape over short chiton tunics, with short curly hair and headbands, playing carnyx (κάρνυξ) trumpets lower left) honoring the Sanchi stupa with gifts, prayers and music. Northern Gateway, Sanchi, India. 2nd-1st century B.C.E.
The compound Buddhist symbols: Shrivatsa within a triratana, over a Chakra wheel, on the Tonana gate at Sanchi.
Carved decoration of the Northern gateway to the Great Stupa of Sanchi
See also
- Decline of Buddhism in India
- Buddhism in India
- Buddhist architecture
Notes
- ↑ Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Sanchi
- ↑ GRIndia
- ↑ Dehejia, Vidya. (1997). Indian Art. Phaidon: London. ISBN 0-7148-3496-3.
- ↑ "Who was responsible for the wanton destruction of the original brick stupa of Asoka and when precisely the great work of reconstruction was carried out is not known, but it seems probable that the author of the former was Pushyamitra, the first of the Sunga kings (184-148 B.C.E.), who was notorious for his hostility to Buddhism, and that the restoration was affected by Agnimitra or his immediate successor." in John Marshall, A Guide to Sanchi, p. 38. Calcutta: Superintendent, Government Printing (1918).
- ↑ Original text "L1: Rano Siri Satakarnisa L2: avesanisa vasithiputasa L3: Anamdasa danam," John Marshall, "A guide to Sanchi," p. 52
- ↑ "A guide to Sanchi" John Marshall. Susan Huntington, "The art of ancient India," p. 100, also described those "Greek-looking foreigners"
- ↑ John Marshall, "An Historical and Artistic Description of Sanchi," from A Guide to Sanchi, Calcutta: Superintendent, Government Printing (1918). pp. 7-29 on line, Project South Asia.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Dehejia, Vidya. (1992). Collective and Popular Bases of Early Buddhist Patronage: Sacred Monuments, 100 B.C.E.-AD 250. In B. Stoler Miller (ed.) The Powers of Art. Oxford University Press: Oxford. ISBN 0-19-562842-X.
- Dehejia, Vidya. (1997). Indian Art. Phaidon: London. ISBN 0-7148-3496-3.
- Mitra, Debala. (1971). Buddhist Monuments. Sahitya Samsad: Calcutta. ISBN 0896844900
External links
- "Sanchi (Madhya Pradesh)," Jacques-Edouard Berger Foundation, World Art Treasures. Retrieved November 13, 2007.
- Buddhist Art and Architecture: Hill at Sanchi. Retrieved November 13, 2007.
- Ancient India: Sanchi. Retrieved November 13, 2007.
- The Great Stupa at Sanchi. Retrieved November 13, 2007.
- UNESCO World Heritate Sites: Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi. Retrieved November 13, 2007.
- 360° views of Sanchi stupas. Retrieved November 13, 2007.
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