Sanchi Stupa No. 2, Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh India

The Stupas are built atop a rounded hill, which was selected by Emperor Asoka for its peace and serenity. The ticket counter was at the base of the hill and then it was about a kilometer uphill; not very strenuous. In fact, in this weather, the walk was very pleasant  Madhu and I really enjoyed it. At the entrance to the site, we had to pass thru a metal detector and our bags were checked. For a change, the security guard, a lady, was very thorough with her job – she checked both our bags minutely. We were quite impressed with her.

Just as expected, Sanchi’s Stupas are very well maintained and enclosed in a beautifully landscaped area. When we entered the site, it was quite foggy and gave the place a lovely, eerie feel. As the outline of sanchi stupas the main Stupa, Stupa 1, came up before us, it literally took our breath away! The Stupa was originally built in brick by Asoka in 3rd century B.C – about 2500 years ago! But later it was enlarged by building a stone one around it. Encircling the Stupa is a stone wall that has four entrances. Each entrance has a beautiful Torana (decorative entrance gateway). The Torana at the entrance facing us was absolutely gorgeous! We had never seen anything like this! It was completely covered in fine carvings depicting the various lives of Buddha (also known as Jatakas). They are supposed to be the finest Buddhist works of art in Sanchi, if not India.

We entered the Stupa through the northern gateway. It had elephants supporting the arches above the columns and a broken wheel at the very top. From here we did a Parikrama of the Stupa by walking around it sanchi stupas clock-wise. The Torana at the southern entrance had back-to-back lions supporting the arches  this is the Asoka emblem of India and it was absolutely fantastic to see the origin of it! Stone steps led up to a stone platform built halfway up the Stupa, encircling it completely. We walked up to the platform, walked around the Stupa and enjoyed gazing at all the Toranas again.

Sanchi is famous for the Grand Stupa built by king Ashoka. This stupa at Sanchi is focal point of the long area of around 91 -meter-high turf and trees surrounding hills. Certainly, it marks an important stage in the evolution of Indian architecture & history of sculpture. The great Stupa is of 36.5 meters in diameter and almost 16.5 meters high. Continuous series of balustrades are found as encircling the entire structure, also giving the structure an unique look. It depicts the scenes of incarnation of Buddha as Bodhisattva has provided the principal inspiration for the sculptors.

The gateways that were carved intricately hold the greatest attention of visitors & fascinate them about the artistic skills. The gateways are total four in numbers are basically ornamented torans. These torans are built at the cardinal points in front of the entrances. The Satvahana ruler, Satkarni, erected these in the period of around 3.5 BC.

The structure of each torans is consisting of two upright pillars of nearly 34 feet high. The two richly carved pillars, rise to be crowned by carved lions, elephants and dwarfs, from these is the famous Ashoka lions are now, the official seal of India.