Talk:Sanchi

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Sculpture

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Summary[edit]

Sanchi is a small village of India, located 46 km north east of Bhopal, in the central part of the state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the location of several Buddhist monuments, dating from the third century BCE to the twelfth century CE.

The Great Stupa at SanchiStupa 1 (the 'great stupa') at Sanchi was commissioned by the emperor Ashoka 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 chhatra, a parasol-like structure symbolising high rank, which was intended to honour and shelter the relics (Dehejia 1997). In the Sunga period, in the first century BCE it was expanded with stone slabs to almost twice its original size. The dome was flattened near the top and crowned by three superimposed parasols within a square railing. With its many tiers it was a symbol of the dharma, the Wheel of the Law. The dome was set on a high circular drum meant for circumambulation, which could be accessed via a double staircase. A second stone pathway at groundlevel was enclosed by a stone balustrade with four monumental gateways (toranas) facing the cardinal directions.

A Torana at Sanchi.The gateways and the balustrade, even though made of stone, were carved and constructed in the manner of wood and the gateways were covered with narrative sculptures. These showed 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. In the case of Sanchi and most other stupas it was the local population who donated money towards the embellishment of the stupa to attain spiritual merit. There was no direct royal patronage. Devotees,i love my/towards a sculpture would often choose their favourite scene from the life of the Buddha and then have their names inscribed on it. This accounts for the random repetition of particular episodes on the stupa (Dehejia 1992). On these stone carvings the Buddha was never depicted as a human figure. Instead the artists chose to represent him by 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. The human body was thought to be too confining for the Buddha.

The compound Buddhist symbols: Shrivatsa within a triratana, over a Chakra wheel, on the Tonana gate at Sanchi.Further stupas and other religious Buddhist and early Hindu structures were added over the following centuries until the 12th century CE. Temple 17 is probably one of the earliest Buddhist temples as it dates 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 are plain and undecorated but the front and the pillars are elegantly carved, giving the temple an almost ‘classical’ appearance (Mitra 1971).

With the decline of Buddhism, the monuments of Sanchi went out of use and fell into a state of disrepair.

The site was re-discovered in 1818 by a British officer, General Taylor. Amateur archaeologists and treasure hunters, ravaged the site until 1881, when proper restoration work was initiated. Between 1912 and 1919 the structures were restored to their present condition under the supervision of Sir John Marshall.

Today, around fifty monuments remain on the hill of Sanchi, including three stupas and several temples. The monuments have been listed among the UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1998.

ÁÀÂÄÃǍĄ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.144.200.134 (talk • contribs) of 3rd July 2006

Images[edit]

There are two pics of the Northern gateway in this article. I think we should remove one. --Madhu 12:29, 16 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Coordinates[edit]

It is recommended to check coordinates before inserting them into WP articles. The coordinates scattered across this article are not correct. Google Maps proves that the coordinates from German Wikipedia {{coor title dms|23|28|46|N|77|44|22|E|type:landmark}} point right at the Great Stupa. Please fix the problem if you know how. --Ghirla^-трёп- 10:17, 6 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

WP:INDIA Banner/Madhya Pradesh workgroup Addition[edit]

{{WP India}} with Madhya Pradesh workgroup parameters was added to this article talk page because the article falls under Category:Madhya Pradesh or one of its subcategories. Should you feel this addition is inappropriate , please undo my changes and update/remove the irrelavent categories to the article -- TinuCherian ^{(Wanna Talk?)} - 13:30, 21 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Sanchi Stupa and Sanchi[edit]

There should be separate articles for the stupa and for the town. If anyone is interested ..... --Regent's Park (Boating Lake) 02:03, 29 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

"Sanchi Stupa"?[edit]

Sanchi is the site of a vihara with many stupas, among other structures, not one. The "Great Stupa" is one of them. Malaiya (talk) 22:07, 5 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

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Contributions by User:पाटलिपुत्र[edit]

I like the detailed information in the boxes contributed by User:पाटलिपुत्र. I appreciate his efforts.

However I think these details will be distracting to most casual readers. I have seen similar information in some appendices in some books. Perhaps some the details to be moved to another page to declutter the main article? List of works in the Louvre can serve a a possible guide. Malaiya (talk) 23:40, 5 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Probably a good idea to have separate articles on each stupa and gateway. utcursch | talk 00:43, 6 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, I agree with utcursch. Possibly we can have these articles:

Overview of Sanchi, its monuments and its historical/religious significance, with details of monuments (such as temple 17, 40, 45).
Stupa 1, the great Stupa,
Stupa 1 southern gateway & pillars
Stupa 1 northern gateway & pillars
Stupa 1 eastern gateway & pillars
Stupa 1 western gateway & pillars
Stupa 3 and its gateway
Stupa 2 and its ornamentation
Sanchi inscriptions (on the monuments and relic caskets) and their significance. There are about 200, most of them are small but several are historically significant.

The region is rich with other stupas and monuments as we can see in Julia Shaw's book, which perhaps should be discussed in some other article. Malaiya (talk) 00:49, 16 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]

This article and an average reader[edit]

My sincere apologies for saying this.

To an average visitor of Wikipedia, the article in the present form is completely unreadable. It looks like a catalogue of loose information, the kind of information you might find in appendices. Most readers likely give up after the first few lines.

I appreciate the notable zeal of User:पाटलिपुत्र, a hard-core archaeology enthusiast. I see that he can typeset texts in Brahmi and other ancient scripts. I personally share his interests and have enjoyed his contributions. I think the article should be made more readable, and the details should be moved to separate articles for those who are looking for them.

Malaiya (talk) 02:07, 4 June 2021 (UTC)[reply]