Famous Temples in India

Architecture

Crowning the hilltop of Sanchi nearly 91 meters in height, a group of Buddhist monuments commands a grand view even from a distance. It is unique not only in its having the most perfect and well-preserved stupas but also in its offering a wide and educative field for the study of the genesis, efflorescence, and decay of Buddhist art and architecture for a period of about thirteen hundred years, from the 3rd century B.C. to the 12th century A.D. almost covering the whole range of Indian Buddhism. This is rather surprising, for Sanchi was not hallowed by any incident in Buddha's life, not is it known to have been the focus of any significant event in the history of Buddhist monachism. Hiuen Tsang, who so meticulously recorded the details connected with Buddhist monuments, is silent about it. The only possible reference to it is contained in the chronicles of Sri Lanka, according to which Mahendra, son of Asoka and his queen Devi, daughter of a merchant of Vidisa, (modern Besnagar near Bhilsa or Vidisha) whom Asoka had married during his halt there on his way to Ujjayani as a viceroy, is said to have visited his mother at Vidisa and the latter took him up to the beautiful monastery of Vedisagiri built by herself. Mahendra had stayed there for a month before he set out for Sri Lanka.

The foundation of the great religious establishment at Sanchi destined to have a glorious career as an important center of Buddhism for many centuries to come was probably laid by the great Maurya emperor Asoka (273-236 B.C.) when he built a stupa and erected a monolithic pillar here. In addition to his marriage with a lady of Vidisa, the reason for his selection of this particular spot maybe because the hilltop served as an ideal place for giving a concrete shape to the newly aroused zeal for Buddhism in the emperor, who is said to have opened up seven out of the eight original stupas erected over the body relics of Buddha and to have distributed the relics among innumerable stupas built by himself all over his empire. By its quietude and seclusion ensuring a proper atmosphere for meditation, combined with its proximity to the rich and populous city of Vidisa, Sanchi fulfilled all the conditions required for an ideal Buddhist monastic life. The dedicatory inscriptions at Sanchi unmistakably show that the prosperity of the Buddhist establishment here was, to a great extent, due to the piety of the rich mercantile community of Vidisa. The nearness of the city, the strategic situation of which - at the confluence of two rivers, the Betwa and the Bes, as well as on two important trade routes resulted in a great overflow of wealth, was in no small measure responsible for the flourishing condition of Sanchi even when the empire of the Mauryas was a thing of the past.

After a temporary setback following the break-up of the Maurya empire, when the stupa of Asoka was damaged, the cause of the Buddhist establishment of Kakanaya was taken up with a feverish zeal by the monks and the laity alike, not a negligible percentage of the latter being formed by visitors of Vidisa for trade and other purposes. The religious fervor found its expression in vigorous building activity about the middle of the 2nd century B.C., during which the Sungas were ruling and which saw the stone encasing and enlargement of the stupa of Asoka, the erection of balustrades round its ground, berm, stairway and harmika, the reconstruction of Temple and the building of Stupas two and three. The same intense religious aspiration and creative forces continued unabated in the next century as well. when during the supremacy of the Satavahanas, new embellishments in the form of elaborately-carved gateways, were added to Stupas 1 and 3. The political vicissitude which northern India went through immediately before and after the Christian era, when the Scytho-Parthians and Kushans invaded and annexed a large part of the land, had perhaps its repercussions at Sanchi as well, resulting in a slackening of structural activities. The establishment of a foreign power in the Malwa region under the Kshatrapas, engaged in chronic warfare, hardly provided any incentive for the dormant workshop. However, like the contemporary Buddhist centers of the north and south-east India, Sanchi freed itself, during the period, from the earlier aniconic tradition, but its contribution to the evolution of the image of Buddha was nil, and it depended for such images on imports from Mathura. After a prolonged period of stagnation and lassitude under the Kashtrapas, there was a revival of sculptural activity at Sanchi during the reign of the Guptas who, after conquering the Kshatrapas (A.D. 400), provided peace and prosperity essential for the growth of artistic pursuits. The discovery of a few images in Mathura, sandstone executed in the early Gupta tradition, proves that Mathura continued, even in the 4th century A.D., to meet the demand of the clientele of Sanchi. But soon afterward the local art of Sanchi once more came to the fore, and to this period belong the four images of Buddha seated under canopies against the berm of Stupa 1 facing the four entrances. But even in the best days of the Guptas, the figures of Buddha from the ateliers of Sanchi fell short, in standard and number of their counterparts at such Buddhist centers as Sarnath. The Gupta period, which ushered in a new epoch in the history of Indian temple-architecture, saw at Sanchi as well as resuscitation of structural activity. In Temple 17 which has withstood the ravages of time, we find one of the earliest Gupta temples noted for their well-balanced proportion, restraint in ornamentation and elegance.

After the glorious days of the Guptas, centrifugal forces became once more rampant and then came the shock of the Hana invasions, which resulted in the seizure of a large part of western and central India by that tribe. But that occupation was short-lived, to be shattered by Yasodharman's victory over their chief Mihirakula in the first half of the sixth century. On the ashes of the Gupta empire rose a number of small kingdoms, none of which was powerful enough to bring any large part of India under its aegis, till Harshavardhana (A.D. 606-647) achieved some sort of political unity in northern India. His espousal of the cause of Buddhism brought a fresh lease of life to that religion. The vestiges of the 7th and 8th centuries, which saw at Sanchi the building of several monasteries and temples, reveal a prosperous condition of the Buddhist community at the place. The number of the images of Buddha made during the period was fairly considerable, executed in late Gupta tradition, they however, lack the charm and grace of their prototypes and are almost lifeless and mechanical. After the death of Harsha, northern India once more became a prey to the ambitions of different dynasties. The Pratiharas, who had established themselves in the Malwa region by the 8th century, was followed by the Paramaras in the next century. But Sanchi seems to have been hardly affected by these political changes, as the existence of several medieval monasteries and temples testifies to a period of continued prosperity. Temple 45, for example, which is now a mere shell bereft of its original splendor, has the same architectural pompousness and exuberance of decoration as would characterize the contemporaneous North Indian architecture. From the find of such images like Vajrasattva and Marichi, it is abundantly clear that Vajrayana did extend its roots here as well. It is not known how the end came to the Buddhist establishment at Sanchi. No Buddhist monument can be assigned to the 13th century A.D. on the other hand, to this period belong a number of Brahmanical plaques containing representations of Vishnu, Ganga, Mahishasuramardini, etc. We do not know if the Buddhists deserted the place or gradually lost their vital forces to maintain their individuality thus succumbing to the all-absorbing force of Brahmanism, which was one of the potent causes of the extinction of Buddhism in the land of its birth.

The Sanchi Stupa is one of India’s primary Buddhist sites and contains some of the oldest stone structures in the country. It took seven years of dedicated excavation and restoration by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) under the supervision of Director-General John Marshall between 1912 -1919 to make the world realize its true splendor and importance. It is no wonder then that Marshall, in The Monuments of Sanchi (1938), wrote that Sanchi was not as revered as other Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India. Yet, these stunning monuments, with their magnificent carvings and inscriptions, are reflective of Indian architecture from the Mauryan era (3rd century B.C.) to its later medieval-era decline (around 11th century CE). Scholars like Alfred A.Foucher say that the aniconic depictions of Buddha (as the Bodhi tree, a rider-less horse, an empty throne, etc.) at Sanchi are products of Graeco-Buddhist architectural interaction, while others argue that it was considered inappropriate to depict someone who had attained nirvana. The earliest known depiction of Buddha in human form came almost a century later. The Sanchi complex is famous for the Mahastupa (Great Stupa), the Ashokan pillar (with its inscriptions), and it's signature ornate torans (gateways). The style of the torans and fencing is said to mimic the bamboo craft of the surrounding areas. ‘If one looks at the design of the fencing around the stupa, as well as the way the torans have been designed (with two side panels and three intersecting horizontal panels at the top), they’re reminiscent of bamboo craft and tied bamboo. Inscriptions on the southern toran vouch that the ivory workers of erstwhile Vidisha (now Besnagar) worked on these monuments, translating the same intricate talent onto the stone. Stupas are semi-spherical domes with square bases that contain small receptacles for relics. There is generally a path for circumambulation around the outer structure of the stupa. They were initially built outside monasteries by pilgrims. The Sanchi Mahastupa is regarded as one of the first monastic stupas. After the Great Stupa was erected, building activities continued at Sanchi for the next fourteen centuries, new monuments and monasteries layered over the foundations of older structures as century followed century. During the Shunga dynasty in the 2nd century B.C the Great Stupa was repaired, expanded and given railings, and two more stupas erected. Under Satavahana rule from the 1st century B.C - 1st century A.D, exquisitely carved toranas (gateways) were added to the railings, showing scenes from Sakyamuni Buddha’s lives (according to most scholars, the scenes showing the Buddha an iconically at this early date), processions of devotees on pilgrimage, scenes of worship, and an animated cast of ganas (mischievous dwarves), lions, yaksis (female fertility/tree spirits) and the like. After a lull in patronage from the 1st - 3rd centuries A.D, whilst the Kushan dynasty held sway over the northwest of India, the construction of monasteries and temples resumed under the Gupta kings. Gupta monuments include Temple 17 from the 5th century A.D, a flat-roofed stone temple that is considered to be the earliest, free-standing temple that survives in India.

Inspiration for Future Architects - The lion capital at Sanchi is similar to the one at Sarnath. The main difference between the two is that the monument at Sanchi depicts an abacus instead of a chakra. However, the influence of the Sanchi Stupa on our national psyche goes beyond the lion capital; it inspired the design of several modern buildings, chief among which is the modern-day Rashtrapati Bhavan. Architect Edwin Lutyens was asked by Lord Charles Hardinge to incorporate symbols of India’s architectural past into the building and modeled the colonnade to carry a Sanchi-style dome and balustrade railing. In 1963, the dome of Kolkata’s Birla Planetarium was constructed to mirror the one at Sanchi. This was followed by similar constructions at the Ambedkar Udyan and the Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Sthal in Lucknow.

The Great Stupa - The Great Stupa at Sanchi, in central India, is one of the earliest stupas, it served as an architectural prototype for all others that followed. The world famous stupa first constructed by the 3rd century B.C. Mauryan ruler Ashoka in brick (the same material as those of Sri Lanka)  was later expanded to twice its original size in stone. In the most basic sense, as an architectural representation of a sacred burial site, a stupa no matter where it is located in the world or when it was built has three fundamental features.

• Foundation of the Stupa: The foundation of the Buddhist vihara at Sanchi that includes the great Sanchi Stupa was laid by one of the greatest Indian Emperors, Ashoka of the Maurya Dynasty who reigned over almost the entire Indian subcontinent from  268 to 232 BCE. He commissioned the construction of the Stupa hereafter redistributing the mortal remains of Lord Buddha so as to build several Stupas in different locations across India to spread Buddhism. The present hemispherical edifice is double in diameter of the original brick structure built by Ashoka, consisting of the relics of Lord Buddha. A chatra that is an umbrella-like structure made of stone crowned the hemispherical brick structure that was surrounded by a wooden railing. Queen Devi, wife of Ashoka and daughter of a merchant of Vidisha, who was born in Sanchi, supervised the construction of this monument. A sandstone pillar, inscribed with Schism Edict by Ashoka as also with ornate spiral Brahmi characters from the Gupta period resembling conch shells referred to as ‘Shankhalipi’ or ‘shell-script’ by scholars, was erected in the site. While the lower portion of it is still grounded, the upper portions are kept under a canopy.
• A hemispherical mound (anda): The anda’s domed shape (green highlights) recalls a mound of dirt that was used to cover the Buddha’s remains. As you might expect, it has a solid core and cannot be entered. Consistent with their symbolic associations, the earliest stupas contained actual relics of the Buddha; the relic chamber, buried deep inside the anda, is called the tabena. Over time, this hemispherical mound has taken on an even grander symbolic association: the mountain home of the gods at the center of the universe.
• A square railing (harmika): The harmika is inspired by a square railing or fence that surrounded the mound of dirt, marking it as a sacred burial site.
• A central pillar supporting a triple-umbrella form (chattra): The chattra, in turn, was derived from umbrellas that were placed over the mound to protect it from the elements (purple highlights). Just as the anda’s symbolic value expanded over time, the central pillar that holds the umbrellas has come to represent the pivot of the universe, the axis Mundi along which the divine descends from heaven and becomes accessible to humanity. And the three circular umbrella-like disks represent the three Jewels, or Triantha, of Buddhism.

Around these three core building blocks were added secondary features,

• Enclosure wall with decorated gateways (toranas) at the cardinal directions: The wall with its trademark three horizontal stone bars (in the top image) surrounds the entire structure. The wall is marked in light blue highlights and the toranas in yellow.
• A circular terrace (medhi): The terrace surrounded by a similar three-bar railing supports the anda and raises it off the ground (black highlights), it likely served as a platform for ritual circumambulation.

The main body of the stupa symbolizes the cosmic mountain. It is topped by a ‘harmika’ to hold the triple umbrella, or ‘chhatraveli’, which represents the three jewels of Buddhism – the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. The high circular terrace against the base is accessible by staircases and is designed for worshippers to be able to walk around the stupa. On the ground level, there is another procession path that is surrounded by stone balustrades. Aside from its size, one of the first things that strikes you when you arrive is the detailed rock carvings that adorn the gateways at the four cardinal points. These were added after the death of Emperor Ashoka and show intricate scenes, including from the life of Buddha and the history of Buddhism. Around the Great Stupa are smaller stupas, as well as the remains of later temples and monasteries. After Emperor Ashoka built his monument here in the 3rd century BC, this became an important place of worship for many centuries to come. You can see here the evidence of Buddhist activity here until at least the 12th century A.D. The gateways at the four cardinal points are the highlights of the structure, with a series of detailed carvings showing Buddhist symbols and important historical and religious scenes. Interestingly, Buddha is always shown in these carvings as a symbol and not as a human. He is represented on the gateways as a horse without a rider, an umbrella above an empty throne, the Bodhi tree, or as footprints. Through each of the gateway entrances is an image of Buddha in human form seated under a pillared canopy. They were added to the site in the 5th century A.D, much later than the rest of the stupa’s decorations, as the worship continued here. It’s yet another demonstration of the endurance of devotion that Emperor Ashoka created at Sanchi.

Stupa 2 - Stupa 2 is situated on the hillside about 320m west of the Great Stupa. The most beautiful and intriguing aspects of Stupa 2 is the collection of reliefs and medallions carved on Vedic posts. Only the south gateway (toranas) out of 4 toranas is present today. Stupa 2 came up in the Shunga rule in keeping with the stone casing and ground balustrade tradition of the Great Stupa. The detailing emphasis on Buddhism and the various Buddhist themes stand out in Stupa 2 and it is not without a reason that this stupa is billed ‘the oldest extensive Stupa decoration in existence’. The representation of Buddhist themes is particularly remarkable as you get to see the four events - Nativity, Enlightenment, First Sermon and Decease - that defined the life of Buddha. Even the depiction of Jataka tales through carvings took root in this Stupa. The decorations of Stupa 2 have been called "the oldest extensive stupa decoration in existence" and this Stupa is considered as the birthplace of Jataka illustrations. The reliefs at Stupa bear mason marks in Kharoshthi, as opposed to the local Brahmi script. This seems to imply that foreign workers from the north-west (from the region of Gandhara, where Kharoshthi was the current script) were responsible for the motifs and figures that can be found on the railings of the stupa. Foreigners from Gandhara are otherwise known to have visited the region around the same time in 115 B.C., the embassy of Heliodorus from Indo-Greek king Antialkidas to the court of the Sungas king Bhagabhadra in nearby Vidisha is recorded, in which Heliodorus established the Heliodorus pillar in a dedication to Vasudeva. This would indicate that relations had improved at that time and that people traveled between the two realms.

Stupa 3 - Stupa 3 lies 60m north of the Great Stupa. Both Stupa was constructed around 1st – 2nd Century B.C. The relic caskets were made of steatite. The caskets were covered by a thin earthen saucer of lustrous black ware. These relic caskets were recovered on the level of the terrace at the center of the dome. Inside the relic-chamber, which was covered by a large stone slab of over 1.5 meters. were two stone boxes with their lids respectively inscribed with the words 'Sariputas' and 'Maha Mogalanas', the lids are now in the Museum. The Stupa 3 is situated about 45 meters to the northeast of Stupa 1. Its diameters and height are 15 meters and 8.23 meters respectively. It is equally important to note that Stupa 2 located at the western side of the Stupa 1 yielded relic casket of a few Buddhist teachers. At a height of 2.13 meters above the terrace, Cunningham found within a relic-chamber (which was not at the center but 0.61 meters westward) a relic-box of sandstone, 0.28x0.24x0.24 meters. Inside the box were found four small relic-caskets of steatite inscribed with the names of ten Saints whose burnt bones were enshrined within. Among these ten Saint, the name of Kasyap-gota and Moggliputa is very important, it is noteworthy that Moggliputa Tissa was the key person to organize the third Buddhist council during the reign of Ashoka. This too came up in the Shunga period complete with the staircase and the balustrade. Relics of the disciples of Buddha, Sariputra, and Mahamoggallana were placed here in Stupa 3. But this structure came up a little after Stupa 2 and the reliefs on the balustrade confirm this. However, it wasn’t the Shunga's who built its single south-facing Torana, but the Satavahanas in 50 B.C.

Temples and Monasteries - Sanchi is also popular for not only stupas but also temples and monasteries. Temple 17 is a typical stone temple built in the period of the Gupta dynasty. Temple 18 much larger than temple 17 is also built-in Sanchi and most parts of Temple 18 are lost. Around 51 monasteries are built on the hill of Sanchi and one of the monasteries, Vihara is located 7m west of the Great Stupa.

Temple 40 - Another structure which has been dated, at least partially, to the 3rd century B.C., is the so-called Temple 40, one of the first instances of free-standing temples in India. Temple 40 has remains of three different periods, the earliest period dating to the Maurya age, which probably makes it contemporary to the creation of the Great Stupa. An inscription even suggests it might have been established by Bindusara, the father of Ashoka. The original 3rd century B.C. temple was built on a high rectangular stone platform, 26.52x14x3.35 meters, with two flights of stairs to the east and the west. It was an apsidal hall, probably made of timber. It was burnt down sometime in the 2nd century B.C. Later, the platform was enlarged to 41.76x27.74 meters and re-used to erect a pillared hall with fifty columns (5x10) of which stumps remain. Some of these pillars have inscriptions of the 2nd century B.C. In the 7th or 8th century a small shrine was established in one corner of the platform, re-using some of the pillars and putting them in their present position.

Temple and Monastery 45 - Monastery 45 stands on the edge of Sanchi’s eastern plateau. It is set within a larger complex of other monastic units, with Monasteries 46 and 47 connecting to its northwestern comer, Building 44 standing beside it to the south, and Building 43 to its southwest, the majority of the architectural remains from Temple 45 and other Sanchi monuments lie stacked around the foundations of these buildings. The remains of these structures represent some of the later building activities at Sanchi, layered over the remnants of earlier constructions. Monasteries 46 and 47were comprised of pillared verandas and monastic cells sharing a common courtyard and are believed to have been built in the 11 century, over the top of an earlier Gupta monastery. Building 44 was probably an 8th - 9th century rectangular building prefaced by a wide antechamber, its northern and southern walls lined with diminutive cells intended for sculptures rather than monks, facing towards a stupa that would have stood in the center of the courtyard. Marshall compared the large, cruciform plan of Building 43 to the monumental Kushan period stupa from Peshawar in present-day Pakistan, but he acknowledges that both the form of its superstructure and its exact date of construction is unknown. Monastery 45 is a square monastery measuring approximately 33m by 33m from wall to wall built on two levels. The foundations of the rectangular monastic cells stand at ground level around its southern, northern and western walls, their narrow entrances leading out to the courtyard. Remnants of die curb that marked the end of the cell’s verandas are still visible, and square blocks dividing the curb at regular intervals indicate where pillars would have stood to hold up the veranda roof. Six cells along die monastery’s eastern wall stand raised by about 175cm above ground level. Emerging from this line pf cells, parting than down the middle, is the substantial, ruined of Temple 45, die base of its entrance hall stretching before it and into the monastic courtyard looking west towards the dome of The Great Stupa. The plinth from a small stupa stands in the courtyard southwest of the mandapa base.

Temple 45 was a Latina temple as indicated by the lata, pratilata, and karnakufa courses found amongst fragments. Today the temple’s sanctum, the rough inner core of the lower part of its spire, and the base of its entrance hall remain standing. Whilst, Latina temples were the most common temple from across Northern India during the 7th - 10th centuries, Temple 45 displays innovation in its design, conception, and context as a full-sized temple incorporated into and forming a part of an enclosed, monastic complex. Famous North East Indian monasteries such as Nalanda and Ratnagiri (from which the layout of the Sanchi monastic settlements may have evolved) experimented during the 6th - 7th centuries and 8th - 9th centuries respectively by incorporating Buddhist ‘chapels’ for worship within their boundaries, yet neither had attempted to include a full, monumental temple in their wings. Temple 45’s simple plan, unadorned, plain walls and negligible vedibandha contrast sharply with the articulated plans and walls, busy with happy celestial hordes, niches and udgamas familiar from most Central Indian Latina temples post 8th century. Temple 45 has a stepped, tri-anga plan without recesses between its projections. Its walls are made up of large, plain blocks of creamy sandstone punctuated by niches projecting from the walls of its bhadras housing Buddhist figures, two of which still survive. Its vedibandha, most unusually, is equally plain, the typical sweeps and curves of a North Indian vedibandha are piled courses and their plinths abbreviated to two basic masonry courses that jut out successively beneath the jahgha, the first stepping out by about 11.5cm and standing about 108 cm tall, the second stepping out by 4.5cm and standing approximately 25cm high. The top of the temple’s spire and its outer sheath have fallen away, bringing with it the upper part of the walls’ facing, including whatever kinkinikajalas it may have sported, the varandika and the Bhadra niche’s crowning elements, leaving behind the roughly piled slabs of stone, protruding out at irregular intervals. A rectangular, window-like entrance at the front of the spire leads into a hollow chamber above the temple’s inner sanctum, a space that was in all probability a pragmatic structural device used to lighten the load of the spire rather than to act as some kind of habitable cell or storage chamber, as seen from the cores of several other Central Indian Latina spires. The walls of the cells that flank Temple 45 create a slim pradaksina around the sanctum, a passage for ritual circumambulation that measures 54 - 58 cm at its narrowest points between the bhadras and pradaksina walls. These are rough and bare, cut through with just two windows on the eastern back wall, their frames and stone lattices enlivened by simple lotus and lotus petal relief carving. The front of the porch that leads to the garbhagrha entrance has an elaborately carved doorway whose overall form is reminiscent of 9th-century Central Indian temples such as the Siva Temple at Terahi (800 - 825 A.D), the Gadarmal Temple at Badoh (825 - 850) and the Surya Temples at Umri (825 - 850 A.D) and Madhekdha (850 - 875). The lintel is missing and the left-hand door jamb is incomplete, part of it surviving amongst the fragments from in area g of Monastery 47, but the majority of the right-hand doorjamb and the doorstep remain intact. The doorjambs are made up of five ornate sakhas (door-bands). A slim band of foliate/aquatic swirls on its inner side is followed by a door-band of ganas prancing on the backs of leogryphs who balance on the shoulders of kneeling elephants. Following this is a Sakha of affectionate and playful triplet groups, separated into registers by double lotus pedestals fronted by gavaksa motifs, rather than the stacked, individual, pillared Valabhi shrines of temples from 900A.D Downwards and crowned with a dome, perhaps a reference to Sanchi’s stupas - preceded by a gavaksa and topped by an amalaka. Following these are stambhasakhas (bands that resemble slim pillars) with vases-of-plenty that lead down to krittimukhas spouting forth narrow vertical columns of watery/foliate swirls. At the outer edge of the doorway is a broader pillar entirely made up of swirling forms, projecting beyond the other door-bands. Inside the sanctum, resting against the northern wall is part of a door lintel bearing a chorus of garland-bearing apsaras (matching an architectural fragment of the same in area of Monastery 47), possibly intended to fit above the garbhagrha door. On either side of the doorway base are the Hindu river goddesses Yamuna and Ganga, standing on their respective aquatic vahanas, the crocodile and the Makara. Each is accompanied by attendants: a small child at their side and a lady-in-waiting holding a parasol or fly-whisk above their head, beside which naga deities curve and join hands in supplication to the Buddha. At their feet on the inner side of the doorways sit small. The goddesses and their attendants are guarded, atypically, by a female rather than male Dvarapdla standing on the doorways outer jamb. Whilst the faces of goddesses and their female attendants are missing or damaged, their bodies show the full breasts, narrow waist, and broad, curving hips familiar to Central Indian sculpture, standing voluptuously in tribhahga poses. The Hindu river goddesses and the affectionate triplets that cavort on either side of the doorway are surprising attendants at a Buddhist temple. An ornate threshold supports the doorjambs, occupied by pairs of Kubera, lion, diminutive female devotee, and half-kirttimukha faces, mirroring each other on either side of the projecting central portion of the doorstep, decorated with a lotus-branch and bird design. The step is in better condition that the doorjambs and show a skillful liveliness of carving: the Kubera figures exude a calm, portly majesty, the lions cheerfully lick their paws whilst their tails sweep up to elegantly duplicate the smooth arch of their haunches, and the rounded plains of the toothily-grinning gorgon faces echo the swirling effluence washing around them. The doorstep is lifted from the ground by a course of lotus petals with a semi-circular central step. The elaborate doorway leads through the plain walls of the antarala, its ceiling missing, to the entrance of the sanctum proper. The sides of the door are formed by two square pillars, their upper half decorated by a lotus medallion pattern. Whilst the pillar on the right hand side of the entrance displays a complete lotus set, with a half lotus topped by a full lotus medallion, the pillar at the left o f the doorway is prematurely truncated, cutting the full lotus in half. This indicates that the pillars were not originally designed for Temple 45’s doorway but instead clumsily modified to fit this setting. The pillars are topped by square ribbed pillows that in turn prop up the plain brackets. The inner sanctum is rectangular, about 353cm by 347cm wall to wall. The plain, sombre walls of the sanctum are cheered by four pillars set into the inner comers of the chamber, their upper parts decorated with a half kirttimukha faces, vase-and-foliage and diamond lotus designs, and topped by more gilled pillows and plain brackets. These hold up plain stone beams that support the roof, leading up to a Tantem ceiling’ of two turned squares receding to a fleshy lotus medallion. Against the back of this chamber sits a large, rather stiff-looking, reddish sandstone statue of the Buddha in bhumi sparsha mudra pose (right-hand-touching-the-earth gesture, signifying Sdkyamunv's enlightenment, though his right hand is now missing), seated on a double lotus pedastal. This sculpture rests upon a separate, damaged lion throne that sits on top of a lotus petal plinth. Two roughly carved and asymmetric stone courses, one resting on top of the other, are cut to hem the sculpture’s lotus pedestals and lion throne in at their sides. On top of the highest course is a wall of irregularly-cut stone blocks and bricks, against which the Buddha’s backrests, and into which part of his halo slots, obscuring one side of the comer pillars carved faces. The overall impression of the awkwardly paired lion throne and Buddha and the untidy stone courses supporting him creates a discordant centerpiece, appearing hastily cobbled together rather than planned and executed with this space in mind. Along with the remains of a door-lintel mentioned above, the sanctum contains an architectural fragment with a Makara and a celestial maiden at its sides.

• Mandapa base: Of the mandapa, only the base remains. The vedibandha rests on an elegant lotus-petal base which stands on top of a plain plinth course. The vedibandha is of a typical khura - khumba - kalasa - kapotali format topped by a vasantapattika (broadband carved with a floral or foliate scroll). The kumbha is punctuated by niches housing mithunas or triplets, standing together affectionately, or in two examples engaged in some type of theatrical exchange, and two house Kubera figures, each with an attendant. The little figures shrines have square pillars decorated with lotus designs and capped by small chadyas followed in the majority of the shrines by composite gavaksha pediments, blossoming outwards prettily and reaching the top of the mandapa, and in the shrines from the mandapa base’s indented walls nearest the temple by various simpler gavaksa designs. The vedibandha and plinth courses rest on layers of rough stone blocks that lead down unevenly to the courtyard floor.
• The cells standing beside Temple 45: The lateral walls of Temple 45’s pradaksina double as the initial walls of the cells that stand on either side of the temple, stretching the eastern length of Monastery 45 and mirroring the cell walls on the monastery’s lower, western face. Although the cells to the south of the temple are in much better repair than the cells to the temple’s north, both the doorways of the cells that neighbor Temple 45 still have complete and ornately decorated doorjambs like simpler versions of the garbhagrha doorway. Both follow similar formats: they have plain doorsteps and are made up of three door-bands, the outer bands made up of a vase-of-plenty shooting its fecund swirls skywards, and the inner bands made up of curling, twisted plant tendrils, that of the southern cells sprouting lotus buds. The southern doorway entertains more celestial characters than the northern doorway. Gaiiga and Yamuna on the northern cell are accompanied by one attendant each, holding parasols above their heads above which rises the caped head of a naga with hands joined, and the inner door-band houses sweet-faced mithuna couples. On the southern cell doorway a figure of a child stands between the goddesses and their attendants, and the middle door-band displays affectionate triplets. Unlike the garbhagrha doorway, in these doorways the mithunas and triplets are separated by sections containing little people, antelope and elephants. These doorways are in some ways more playful and charming that the garbhagrha doorway and yet, surprisingly, their beauty is abruptly curtailed by entirely mismatched, plain lintels balanced on top of their broken ends. They appear strikingly out of place and no attempt has been made to integrate the two forms. The walls and doorways of the southern cells are still in place. The doorways of the cells following the first one are plain with a small niche containing a figure seated in the posture of royal ease. Apart from a raised section in the first cell resembling a bed the cells that remain standing to the south of Temple 45 are bare, the roofs supported by plain, corbel brackets, and the walls partially restored with smaller stones. The cells give way to a veranda, the roof of which was held up by a combination of simple and ornate pillars. A rushed pillar substitute of the sort witnessed in the sanctum occurs on here, with a decapitated kirttimukha and vase-and-foliage pillar holding up one of the beams that would have supported the veranda roof.

The artworks of Sanchi - The four gateways to the Great Stupa are famed for the beauty of their intricate carvings and knowing what they represent offers a deeper understanding of the Sanchi site. The gateways, or ‘toranas’, were built in the 1st century B.C and were sponsored by different lay worshippers. Each was carved by various craftspeople at different times, giving them slightly varied styles. Each of the gateways has two square pillars with a set of four lions, elephants, or pot-bellied dwarves supporting a large grid with three architraves. Between the architraves are figures of horsemen and elephants. But it’s the architraves themselves that offer us the most, with incredibly-detailed scenes carved into the rock. The southern gateway shows an image of the Stupa of Ramagrama near Lumbini, the only one of the stupas with original relics of Buddha that Emperor Ashoka did not open. It also shows scenes from the Siege of Kushinagar and the story of Chhaddanta Jataka, a previous incarnation of Buddha. The western gateway also shows a scene from the Siege of Kushinagar and another part of the story of Chhaddanta Jataka. It also has carvings depicting Buddha’s first sermon and his enlightenment. Moving around to the northern gateway, there are scenes showing different incarnations of Buddha, including a continuation of the story of Chhaddanta Jataka. There is also a depiction of an event leading up to his enlightenment when Sujata offered him food. At the eastern gateway, you can see images of Buddha leaving his home at Kapilavastu to begin his journey to enlightenment. Importantly, there is also a scene of Emperor Ashoka visiting the Bodhi tree where the enlightenment occurred. This carving, coming at least a hundred years after the Great Stupa was built, is an important tribute to both Buddha and the man who so passionately embraced his teachings.

Architectural fragments - Stacked around areas 44 - 49 are somewhere in the region of 500 architectural fragments, a large percentage of them from the Temple 45’s spire, temple walls, and its mandapa. Amongst the pieces are the repeated gavaksa and eave patterns of its lata and pratilata, karnakiita eaves and broken Karna amalaka fragments, knitted gavaksa udgamas, monumental sukanasa-style gavaksas, festoons width leaf motifs, vyalas and demon faces within their loops, horizontal courses made up of alternating lotus and ‘vase-of-plenty’ designs, pillar fragments, door fragments, brackets and broken sculptural remains. The number of surviving fragments is a blessing, waiting to be measured, documented, and analyzed so that they may offer up the wealth of architectural information they contain pertaining to not just the original design of the spire from Temple 45, but also aspects of North Indian architectural practice in general.

Ashoka pillar - A pillar of finely polished sandstone, one of the Pillars of Ashoka, was also erected on the side of the main Torana gateway. The bottom part of the pillar still stands. The upper parts of the pillar are at the nearby Sanchi Archaeological Museum. The capital consists of four lions, which probably supported a Wheel of Law, as also suggested by later illustrations among the Sanchi reliefs. The pillar has an Ashokan inscription (Schism Edict) and an inscription in the ornamental Sankha Lipi from the Gupta period. The Ashokan inscription is engraved in early Brahmi characters. It is unfortunately much damaged, but the commands it contains appear to be the same as those recorded in the Sarnath and Kausambi edicts, which together form the three known instances of Ashoka's "Schism Edict". It relates to the penalties for schism in the Buddhist sangha: the path is prescribed both for the monks and for the nuns. As long as (my) sons and great-grandsons (shall reign) and as long as the Moon and the Sun (shall endure), the monk or nun who shall cause divisions in the Sangha, shall be compelled to put on white robes and to reside apart. For what is my desire? That the Sangha may be united and may long endure. The pillar, when intact, was about 42 feet in height and consisted of round and slightly tapering monolithic shaft, with bell-shaped capital surmounted by an abacus and a crowning ornament of four lions, set back to back, the whole finely finished and polished to a remarkable luster from top to bottom. The abacus is adorned with four flame palmette designs separated one from the other by pairs of geese, symbolical perhaps of the flock of the Buddha's disciples. The lions from the summit, though now quite disfigured, still testify to the skills of the sculptors. The sandstone out of which the pillar is carved came from the quarries of Chunar several hundred miles away, implying that the builders were able to transport a block of stone over forty feet in length and weighing almost as many tons over such a distance. They probably used water transport, using rafts during the rainy season up until the Ganges, Jumna and Betwa rivers.

Sunga Pillar - Pillar 25 at Sanchi is also attributed to the Sungas, in the 1st–2nd century B.C., and is considered as similar in design to the Heliodorus pillar, locally called Kham Baba pillar, dedicated by Heliodorus, the ambassador to the Indo-Greek king Antialkidas, in nearby Vidisha circa 100 B.C. That it belongs to about the period of the Sunga, is clear alike from its design and the character of the surface dressing. The height of the pillar, including the capital, is 15 ft, its diameter at the base 1 ft. 4 in. Up to a height of 4 ft. 6 in. the shaft is octagonal, above that sixteen-sided. In the octagonal portion all the facets are flat, but in the upper section the alternate facets are fluted, the eight other sides being produced by a concave chamfering of the arrises of the octagon. This method of finishing off the arris at the point of transition between the two sections are features characteristic of the second and first centuries BCE. The west side of the shaft is split off, but the tenon at the top, to which the capital was mortised, is still preserved. The capital is of the usual bell-shaped Persepolitan type, with lotus leaves falling over the shoulder of the bell. Above this is a circular cable necking, then a second circular necking relieved by a bead and lozenge pattern and finally a deep square abacus adorned with a railing in relief. The crowning feature, probably a lion, has disappeared.