Climb the sandstone steps leading to the flat summit of Sanchi Hill, rising 91 meters above the fertile plain where the Betwa and Bes rivers meet in Madhya Pradesh, and a colossal hemispherical stone dome emerges against the sky like a miniature cosmos resting upon the earth. Encircling its thirty-six-meter base stands a massive stone balustrade joined like ancient timber fencing, pierced at the four cardinal directions by ten-meter-high ceremonial stone gateways whose three curved architraves are carved from top to bottom with hundreds of scenes from the life of the Buddha, royal elephant processions, and smiling tree-spirit nymphs clinging gracefully to mango boughs.
Although Shakyamuni Buddha never personally walked the roads of ancient Vidisha or Sanchi Hill (known in early Brahmi inscriptions as Kakanava, Kakanadabota, or Chetiyagiri) during his forty-five years of teaching, this hilltop preserves the oldest and most complete ensemble of Buddhist architecture in India. Founded in the third century BCE by Emperor Ashoka the Great to enshrine the corporeal relics of the Buddha alongside a polished four-lion pillar, the Great Stupa at Sanchi became the architectural archetype for Buddhist stupas across Asia, and its silhouette graces the reverse of the modern 200-Rupee banknote of the Republic of India.
IRelics of the Buddha, his two chief disciples, and the aniconic language of symbols
In early Buddhist tradition, a Stupa (Pali: Thupa) is not merely a commemorative mound, but the living architectural presence of the Buddha's Dharma-body and a three-dimensional model of the cosmos centered on the cosmic axis (Axis Mundi). At Sanchi, the three principal stupas on the hill embody the three tiers of sacred relic veneration (Saririka) in early Buddhism:
At the summit center stands Stupa No. 1 (the Great Stupa or Mahastupa), founded by Emperor Ashoka in the third century BCE to enshrine a portion of the corporeal relics of Shakyamuni Buddha himself (redistributed by Ashoka from the original eight relic stupas into 84,000 stupas across the Mauryan Empire). Just 50 meters northeast of the Great Stupa stands Stupa No. 3: the sacred reliquary monument enshrining the corporeal bone relics of the Buddha's two foremost chief disciples, Venerable Sariputta (foremost in wisdom) and Venerable Mahamoggallana (foremost in spiritual powers). Halfway down the western slope of the hill stands Stupa No. 2: enshrining four steatite relic caskets containing the bone relics of ten revered Buddhist Arhats and masters of the Hemavata school across three generations, including teachers who presided over the Third Buddhist Council under Emperor Ashoka.
Standing beneath the four carved stone gateways (Toranas) of the Great Stupa to trace hundreds of narrative reliefs depicting Prince Siddhartha's departure from the palace, his enlightenment beneath the Bodhi Tree at Bodh Gaya, his First Sermon at Sarnath, and his passing into Nirvana, the viewer encounters a profound theological rule of first-century BCE Buddhist art: nowhere in any of these narrative panels is the Buddha ever depicted in human form. Sanchi represents the supreme flowering of the Aniconic phase of Buddhist art prior to the emergence of anthropomorphic Buddha statues in Gandhara and Mathura in the first century CE.
In the understanding of the early Buddhist schools, having attained final Nirvana beyond the five aggregates of conditioned existence, the Awakened One transcended all finite bodily form. The master sculptors of Sanchi therefore evoked his boundless presence through a vocabulary of sacred symbols: a lotus cluster and elephants lustrating Queen Maya signify the Nativity, a caparisoned horse Kanthaka shaded by a royal parasol with no rider on its back passing through the city gates of Kapilavastu signifies the Great Renunciation (Mahabhinishkramana), a branching Bodhi Tree rising above an empty Diamond Throne (Vajrasana) signifies the Supreme Enlightenment, a Wheel of the Law (Dharmachakra) mounted on a pillar amid deer signifies the First Sermon, a jeweled aerial walkway (Chankama) or pair of sacred footprints (Buddhapada) marked with the wheel signifies the miracle at Shravasti, and a venerated Stupa surrounded by worshipping gods and musicians signifies his final Mahaparinirvana.
One of the most momentous discoveries in the history of Buddhist archaeology took place at Stupa No. 3 in February 1851, conducted by Major Alexander Cunningham (later the first Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India) and Captain F. C. Maisey. Opening the relic chamber set at eye level inside the dome of Stupa No. 3, the two excavators found two undisturbed large sandstone boxes. Inside each stone box rested a turned white steatite relic casket containing small fragments of calcined bone alongside pearls, rock crystal, and gold leaf. Inscribed in ink in Maurya-Shunga Brahmi script on the inner lid of the southern casket was the letter Sa, and on the inner lid of the northern casket the letter Ma (corroborated by two parallel steatite caskets unearthed at nearby Satdhara Stupa No. 2 bearing the full Brahmi inscriptions Sariputasa and Maha-Mogalanasa, confirming beyond doubt the authentic relics of Sariputta and Mahamoggallana).
After being kept at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London for nearly a century, at the request of the Maha Bodhi Society and the governments of India and Sri Lanka, the sacred relics of the two chief disciples were formally returned by Britain in 1947. Following an international peace tour across Buddhist nations in Asia, in November 1952 Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and world Buddhist leaders enshrined the relics permanently inside the newly constructed Chetiyagiri Vihara temple atop Sanchi Hill.
Many visitors looking up at the outer ends of the lowest architraves on the four Toranas notice full-bodied, jewel-adorned young women curving outward into space as they rest a foot against a tree trunk and grasp a flowering branch of mango or ashoka, and wonder why sensuous female figures serve as brackets on a monastic stupa gateway. In ancient Indian folklore and Buddhist literature, this figure is the Shalabhanjika (a benevolent tree-spirit Yakshini): according to ancient belief, the gentle kick of a virtuous maiden's heel and the touch of her hand caused even a barren tree to burst instantly into blossom and fruit. Carved at Sanchi by the guild of ivory-carvers of nearby Vidisha, the Shalabhanjika stands at the threshold as an auspicious emblem of nature's abundance, welcoming pilgrims and blessing the Buddha's Dharma to blossom eternally.
IIFrom Emperor Ashoka's marriage at Vidisha to fifteen centuries of monastic life
The reason Emperor Ashoka chose Sanchi Hill as the site for his Great Stupa lies ten kilometers northeast at the prosperous ancient metropolis of Vidisha (ancient Besnagar, capital of eastern Malwa). According to the ancient Sri Lankan Pali chronicles Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa, when young Prince Ashoka was appointed by his father Bindusara as Viceroy of Avanti (with his seat at Ujjain), he halted on his march at Vidisha and married Devi (Vedisamahadevi Shakya Kumari), the devout Buddhist daughter of a prominent Vidisha merchant. At Vidisha, Queen Devi bore Ashoka two children who changed the course of Asian religious history: Prince Mahinda (Mahendra) and Princess Sanghamitta (Sanghamitra).
Following the remorse of the Kalinga War (c. 261 BCE) and Ashoka's conversion to Buddhism, Queen Devi (who continued residing at her home city of Vidisha rather than the imperial capital Pataliputra) founded a hillside monastery at Sanchi (called Chetiyagiri in the chronicles), where Emperor Ashoka erected the brick core of the Great Stupa and his lion pillar. Shortly before embarking on his mission to introduce Buddhism to Sri Lanka under King Devanampiya Tissa (followed by Princess Sanghamitta carrying a sapling of the sacred Bodhi Tree to Anuradhapura), the monk-prince Mahinda spent a full month at his mother Queen Devi's monastery atop Sanchi Hill.
- 3rd century BCE (c. 268 to 232 BCE)Emperor Ashoka founds the brick Great Stupa and erects the Lion PillarUnder Mauryan Emperor Ashoka, the original hemispherical brick core of Stupa No. 1 was built to enshrine the relics of the Buddha, crowned by a polished Chunar sandstone umbrella and flanked at its southern entrance by a monolithic Ashoka Pillar (Pillar 10) topped by four lions and inscribed with the Schism Edict.
- 2nd century BCE (c. 150 to 100 BCE)Shunga period doubles the size of the Great Stupa and builds Stupas 2 and 3During the Shunga dynasty, the Sangha encased Ashoka's brick stupa in dressed sandstone blocks, doubling its diameter to 36.6 meters and height to 16.46 meters, and added the upper circumambulatory terrace, the massive ground stone balustrade (Vedika), the crowning Harmika and triple umbrella, as well as Stupas No. 2 and No. 3.
- 1st century BCE to 1st century CESatavahana period erects the four 10-meter carved stone Torana gatewaysUnder King Siri Satakarni II of the Satavahana dynasty, four 10-meter ceremonial stone gateways (Toranas) were raised at the four cardinal entrances (South, North, East, and West), covered with aniconic narrative reliefs carved by the guild of ivory-carvers of Vidisha.
- 5th century CE (Gupta Golden Age, c. 400 to 450 CE)Construction of classic Temple 17 and installation of four seated BuddhasUnder the Gupta emperors (Chandragupta II and Kumaragupta I), the classically proportioned structural stone shrine of Temple 17 was erected, and around 450 CE four stone statues of the seated Buddha under stone canopies were placed inside the four entrances of the Great Stupa.
- 7th to 12th century CEConstruction of Temple 18, Monastery 45, and enclosure wallsMonastic scholarship flourished under Emperor Harshavardhana (7th century, erecting the tall-pillared apsidal hall of Temple 18) and the Pratihara and Paramara dynasties (9th to 12th centuries, building the Nagara-spired Monastery and Temple 45) before the site was abandoned in the thirteenth century.
- 1818 and 1851General Henry Taylor rediscovers Sanchi and Cunningham opens Stupa 3In 1818 British officer General Henry Taylor documented the jungle-overgrown monuments of Sanchi (with three of the four gateways still standing). In 1851 Alexander Cunningham and F. C. Maisey excavated Stupas 2 and 3, discovering the steatite caskets containing the relics of Sariputta and Mahamoggallana.
- 1912 to 1919Sir John Marshall and the Begum of Bhopal restore the entire complexFunded generously by the Muslim woman ruler of Bhopal, Nawab Sultan Jahan Begum, ASI Director-General Sir John Marshall cleared the vegetation, re-erected fallen gateways and balustrades, reconstructed the domes of Stupas 1 and 3, and established the Sanchi Archaeological Museum.
- 1952 and 1989Re-enshrinement of the sacred relics and UNESCO World Heritage inscriptionIn November 1952 the relics of Sariputta and Mahamoggallana were returned from London and enshrined in the Chetiyagiri Vihara on Sanchi Hill. In 1989 the Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (Ref. 524).
Another priceless historical archive preserved at Sanchi consists of more than 800 votive inscriptions in early Brahmi script and Prakrit language carved across the upright posts, crossbars, and paving slabs of Stupas 1, 2, and 3 (dating from the second to first century BCE). Unlike royal monuments bearing only the name of a single monarch, hundreds of brief inscriptions ending in the word Danam (the gift of...) reveal that the Great Stupa was expanded through collective community patronage by men and women from every walk of life: Buddhist monks (Bhikkhus) and nuns (Bhikkhunis, who account for nearly one-third of all recorded donors!), merchant guild leaders (Setthis), royal scribes (Rajalipikaras), weavers, blacksmiths, Ananda, foreman of the artisans of King Siri Satakarni, and the Guild of Ivory-Carvers of Vidisha (Vedisakehi dantakarehi rupakammam katam, who personally carved the exquisite reliefs of the Southern Gateway as an act of devotion).
In the modern era, the preservation of Sanchi owes an enduring debt to the enlightened Muslim women rulers of Bhopal State (the Begums of Bhopal): when Emperor Napoleon III of France requested permission in 1868 to dismantle one of Sanchi's original stone Torana gateways for shipment to Paris, Nawab Shah Jahan Begum refused to let the original monument be dismembered and instead arranged for plaster casts to be made for museums in Paris, London, and Berlin, subsequently, her daughter Nawab Sultan Jahan Begum financed Sir John Marshall's exemplary restoration of Sanchi between 1912 and 1919.
IIICosmological anatomy of the Great Stupa, the four Torana gateways, and Ashoka's Lion Pillar
Among roughly 50 surviving monuments atop Sanchi Hill (including stupas, monolithic pillars, temples, and monasteries), Stupa No. 1 (the Great Stupa) stands as the textbook masterpiece explaining the cosmological architecture of the Buddhist stupa. Measuring 36.6 meters (120 feet) in base diameter and 16.46 meters (54 feet) in dome height (rising about 21.6 meters to the top of its stone umbrella), the monument comprises five symbolic tiers from ground to summit:
(1) Encircling the base is the massive 3.35-meter-high ground stone balustrade (Vedika), demarcating the sacred precinct from the profane world and enclosing the lower clockwise circumambulation path (Pradakshinapatha). (2) Inside rises the 4.87-meter cylindrical drum terrace (Medhi) approached on the south by a double flight of balustraded stairs (Sopana) leading to the upper circumambulation walkway. (3) Above the drum swells the solid hemispherical Dome (Anda) of brick faced with dressed sandstone, representing the Cosmic Egg or the vault of heaven resting upon earth. (4) Crowning the flatten apex of the dome is a square railed pavilion (Harmika), symbolizing the summit of cosmic Mount Meru and the heaven of the Thirty-Three Gods, enclosing the relic chamber. (5) Rising vertically from the center of the Harmika is the axial stone mast (Yashti) supporting three tiered stone umbrellas (Chatravali) representing the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.
The crowning artistic achievement of the Satavahana period (1st century BCE). Rising approximately 10 meters (34 feet / 10.36 meters) high and 3 meters wide, the four Toranas guard the L-shaped cardinal entrances of the Vedika railing. Each gateway consists of two massive square stone pillars supporting three slightly arched horizontal architraves whose projecting ends curl into volutes like unrolling palm-leaf manuscripts, crowned at the apex by the Wheel of the Law, Triratna (Three Jewels) emblems, and guardian Yakshas. The Southern Gateway capitals are supported by four addorsed lions, the Northern and Eastern capitals by four elephants, and the Western capitals by four robust dwarf Ganas (Kichakas) bearing the weight on their shoulders.
The Northern Gateway is the most intact of the four, retaining its crowning Triratna symbols, winged lions, elephants, and central Dharmachakra wheel fragments, while both faces of its lowest architrave unfold the complete narrative of the Vessantara Jataka (Prince Vessantara's supreme perfection of generosity). The Eastern Gateway (facing Temple 18) is world-famous for its surviving right bracket figure of the Shalabhanjika (Yakshini) tree nymph swinging gracefully from a fruiting mango tree, alongside panels depicting Prince Siddhartha's Great Departure on the riderless horse Kanthaka and Emperor Ashoka's pilgrimage to the Bodhi Tree.
Immediately beside the Southern Gateway of the Great Stupa stands the lower shaft of Ashoka Pillar No. 10 (3rd century BCE). Originally rising over 12 meters high, the monolithic column was quarried from buff Chunar sandstone near Varanasi hundreds of kilometers away and finished with the famous mirror-like Mauryan polish that still gleams after more than 2,200 years. Engraved on the standing stump in early Brahmi script is Emperor Ashoka's Schism Edict sternly warning monks and nuns against dividing the united Sangha. Its magnificent crowning capital of four addorsed roaring lions standing above an abacus of four Hamsa geese pecking lotus seeds is preserved in the Sanchi Archaeological Museum at the foot of the hill.
Standing 50 meters northeast of the Great Stupa, Stupa No. 3 (15 meters in diameter, 8.2 meters high) features a steeper hemispherical dome crowned by a single stone umbrella and fronted on the south by a single richly carved early-first-century CE Torana gateway, inside this dome Alexander Cunningham and F. C. Maisey discovered the two steatite caskets containing the bone relics of Sariputta and Mahamoggallana in 1851. Halfway down the western hill slope stands Stupa No. 2 (2nd century BCE), which lacks Torana gateways but preserves a complete ground Vedika balustrade carved with 455 lotus medallions, Yakshas, and mythical animals representing the earliest relief sculptures at Sanchi.
Southeast of the Great Stupa stand two landmarks of Indian temple architecture. Temple No. 17 (early 5th century CE, Gupta Empire) is an intimate flat-roofed square stone sanctum fronted by a four-pillared portico with lion capitals, Sir John Marshall and architectural historians celebrate it as one of the earliest surviving structural stone temples in India, noted for its lucid, Greek-like harmonic proportions. Directly adjacent rises Temple No. 18 (7th century CE, built under Emperor Harshavardhana atop an earlier Mauryan foundation): an apsidal Chaitya hall whose nine monolithic stone columns over 5 meters tall soar against the sky.
Elsewhere on the hilltop visitors encounter a colossal monolithic stone begging bowl from the Mauryan period (into which food offerings were placed for distribution to the monks), the extensive courtyard foundations of Monastery 51 (traditionally associated with Queen Devi), and the ninth- to tenth-century Temple and Monastery 45 on the eastern rim featuring a carved Nagara spire and a seated Buddha in the earth-touching posture. On the northern brow of the hill stands the white marble Chetiyagiri Vihara inaugurated in 1952, which permanently houses the sacred relics of Venerable Sariputta and Mahamoggallana.
| Monument on Sanchi Hill | Period & Dynasty | Architectural features and sacred treasures |
|---|---|---|
| Great Stupa No. 1 (Mahastupa) | 3rd century BCE (Maurya) to 1st century BCE (Shunga - Satavahana) | 36.6 m diameter, 16.46 m high, enshrines relics of the Buddha, surrounded by stone Vedika railing and four 10 m Torana gateways |
| Ashoka Pillar No. 10 & Four-Lion Capital | 3rd century BCE (c. 250 BCE, Emperor Ashoka) | Mirror-polished Chunar sandstone shaft bearing the Brahmi Schism Edict, four-lion capital displayed in the Sanchi Museum |
| Stupa No. 3 | 2nd century BCE (Shunga) & 1st century CE Torana | 15 m diameter with single umbrella and southern Torana, site of the 1851 discovery of the relics of Sariputta and Mahamoggallana |
| Stupa No. 2 | 2nd century BCE (Shunga dynasty) | Located on the western slope without gateways, enshrines relics of 10 Hemavata Arhats and preserves Sanchi's earliest balustrade reliefs |
| Temple No. 17 (Classical Gupta Shrine) | Early 5th century CE (Gupta Empire) | One of India's earliest surviving structural stone temples, celebrated for its balanced proportions and four-pillared lion portico |
| Temple No. 18 (Apsidal Chaitya) & Monastery 45 | 7th century CE (Harsha era) & 9th to 10th century CE | Temple 18 features 5-meter monolithic columns and an apse, Monastery 45 preserves a northern Nagara tower and post-Gupta Buddha statues |
IVThe lie of the land and the facing
In examining the topography of Sanchi Hill and the orientation of the Great Stupa, a clear distinction must be stated: Indian Buddhism does not use East Asian compass feng shui. The choice of Sanchi Hill (Chetiyagiri / Kakanadabota) by Emperor Ashoka and the third-century BCE Sangha followed ancient Indian stupa-building tradition and Buddhist cosmology: because a relic stupa represents the Cosmic Axis (Axis Mundi / Mount Meru) linking Earth and Heaven, crowning a flat-topped sandstone hill rising above the junction of major imperial trade routes (linking Pataliputra in the east, Ujjain in the west, and Pratishthana in the south) allowed the stupa's triple stone umbrella to be seen by travelers and villagers for miles across the plain. The analysis below offers the Hall of Myriad Paths library's comparative reading through traditional East Asian landform theory.
Viewed within the regional geography of eastern Malwa at coordinates 23.4792° N, 77.7397° E (lying almost directly on the Tropic of Cancer at 23.5° N), Sanchi Hill is an isolated whale-backed sandstone ridge rising 91 meters (300 feet) above the fertile alluvial plain of the Betwa valley. Immediately east and north of the hill flows the sacred Betwa River (ancient Vetravati), winding northward to join its tributary the Bes River (Halali) right at the ancient metropolis of Vidisha ten kilometers away, while to the south and southwest rise the sandstone hill of Nagauri and a ring of satellite Buddhist stupa hills (Sonari, Satdhara, Morel Khurd, and Andher within a 15-kilometer radius). In traditional landform doctrine, when a flat-topped rock hill rises abruptly from a level plain embraced by the confluence of two rivers (two waters meeting around an elevated seal-hill), its level plateau forms a natural celestial altar (thiên bàn) that gathers the vital qi of the entire river basin.
Looking specifically at the cardinal geometry and facing of Great Stupa No. 1, the monument is laid out as a four-gated cosmic Mandala: the hemispherical dome at the center embodies boundless completeness, while the four 10-meter Torana gateways open precisely to the four cardinal directions: North, South, East, and West. Among the four gates, the Southern Gateway served as the primary ceremonial entrance: it was directly outside the Southern Gateway that Emperor Ashoka erected his Four-Lion Pillar, and it is on the south side that the double stairway (Sopana) ascends to the upper terrace, looking southward toward Nagauri Hill as its natural front screen (Front Table Mountain (Qian An)).
When a pilgrim enters through any of the four cardinal Toranas, the L-shaped elbow turn of the stone balustrade (Vedika) naturally directs their footsteps to turn left and walk around the dome in clockwise circumambulation (Pradakshina): moving from East (sunrise) to South (high noon), from South to West (sunset), and from West through North back to East. Keeping the right shoulder reverently turned toward the Buddha's relics at the center of the hill, the pilgrim's circuit mirrors the daily course of the sun and stars around the axis of the universe.
VThe November Chetiyagiri Vihara Relic Festival and Buddha Purnima
Unlike archaeological sites that function solely as museums, Sanchi Hill remains an active international pilgrimage sanctuary drawing tens of thousands of Buddhist monks, nuns, and lay devotees from Sri Lanka, Japan, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, and across India, culminating each year in the Chetiyagiri Vihara Relic Festival on the Gregorian calendar and Buddha Purnima (Vesak) on the Indian lunisolar calendar.
| Date | Calendar | Festival / Observance | Rituals and celebrations at Sanchi |
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Saturday and Sunday of November (2 days annually) | Gregorian calendar | Chetiyagiri Vihara Relic Festival (Sanchi Mahabodhi Mahotsava) | The premier annual spiritual gathering at Sanchi (instituted in November 1952 when the relics were re-enshrined): exclusively during this two-day November weekend, the vault inside the Chetiyagiri Vihara is opened and the authentic corporeal relics of the Buddha's two chief disciples, Venerable Sariputta and Venerable Mahamoggallana, are brought out in solemn procession around the Great Stupa and displayed for direct public veneration by tens of thousands of monastics, diplomats, and pilgrims. |
| Full moon of Vesakha / Vaishakha (May) | Indian lunisolar / Buddhist calendar | Buddha Purnima (Vesak) | Commemorating the Birth, Enlightenment, and Mahaparinirvana of Shakyamuni Buddha: monastics and lay devotees perform clockwise circumambulation around Great Stupa No. 1 and Stupa No. 3, chant Pali suttas, and offer flowers and lamps honoring Emperor Ashoka and Prince Mahinda. |
| Full moon of Ashadha (June or July, Poson / Esala) | Indian / Sri Lankan lunisolar calendar | Commemoration of Prince Mahinda's Mission to Sri Lanka | Sri Lankan Buddhist pilgrimage groups visit Sanchi (Chetiyagiri) to honor the hilltop monastery where Prince Mahinda and Princess Sanghamitta stayed with their mother Queen Devi before carrying the Dharma and the Bodhi Tree sapling to Sri Lanka in the 3rd century BCE. |
Every evening on Sanchi Hill, visitors can also attend the Sound and Light Show in Hindi and English, which bathes the dome of Great Stupa No. 1 and its four carved Toranas in golden light while narrating the transformation of Emperor Ashoka from battlefield conqueror at Kalinga to universal patron of peace through the Dharma (Dhammavijaya).
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Đồi Sanchi nằm cách thủ phủ Bhopal của bang Madhya Pradesh khoảng 46 km về phía đông bắc và cách thành phố Vidisha chỉ 10 km về phía tây nam
- Getting there
- Sanchi Hill lies about 46 km northeast of the state capital Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh and just 10 km southwest of historic Vidisha. From Raja Bhoj Airport or Bhopal Junction Railway Station (or Vidisha Railway Station, where major Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Chennai express trains stop), visitors can reach the foot of Sanchi Hill by car or bus along National Highway 146 in about one hour from Bhopal (or 15 minutes from Vidisha).
- Coordinates
- 23.4792, 77.7397
The monument complex atop Sanchi Hill is open daily from sunrise to sunset. When passing through the four Torana gateways into the stone balustrade of Great Stupa No. 1 and Stupa No. 3, please walk in clockwise circumambulation (keeping the stupa dome on your right side) in accordance with traditional Buddhist respect, and refrain from touching or leaning against the ancient Brahmi-inscribed railing pillars. Directly at the foot of the hill beside the ticket office stands the ASI Sanchi Archaeological Museum (open 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, please note that the Museum is closed every Friday while the hilltop stupa complex remains open all seven days of the week), where you can view firsthand Emperor Ashoka's original Four-Lion Capital and the stone relic boxes discovered in 1851.
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?Quick Questions
Did Shakyamuni Buddha ever visit Sanchi, and why did Emperor Ashoka build the Great Stupa here?
Shakyamuni Buddha never personally visited Sanchi during his lifetime. Emperor Ashoka chose Sanchi Hill to erect the Great Stupa in the 3rd century BCE because it overlooks the prosperous city of Vidisha, the hometown of his first wife Queen Devi (a devout Buddhist whom Ashoka married while serving as Viceroy at Ujjain) and the birthplace of their children Prince Mahinda and Princess Sanghamitta, who departed from Queen Devi's monastery at Sanchi to introduce Buddhism to Sri Lanka.
Why are there no human-shaped statues of the Buddha on the four Torana gateways of Sanchi?
The four stone Torana gateways were carved in the 1st century BCE (under the Satavahana dynasty) during the early Aniconic phase of Buddhist art, before anthropomorphic statues of the Buddha were created. Because the Buddha had entered final Nirvana beyond conditioned physical form, the ivory-carvers of Vidisha represented his presence exclusively through sacred symbols: the riderless horse Kanthaka (Great Departure), the Bodhi Tree and empty throne (Enlightenment), the Wheel of the Law (First Sermon), and the Stupa (Mahaparinirvana).
Where at Sanchi were the relics of the Buddha's chief disciples Sariputta and Mahamoggallana discovered?
In 1851, while excavating Stupa No. 3 (located 50 meters northeast of the Great Stupa), British archaeologists Alexander Cunningham and F. C. Maisey discovered two large sandstone boxes containing two white steatite relic caskets inscribed in early Brahmi with the initials Sa (Sariputta) and Ma (Mahamoggallana), preserving the bone relics of the Buddha's two foremost disciples. Returned from London after Indian independence, the sacred relics have been enshrined since November 1952 in the Chetiyagiri Vihara atop Sanchi Hill.
When can pilgrims view the authentic relics of Venerable Sariputta and Mahamoggallana in person?
Throughout the year, the sacred relic caskets of the two chief disciples are kept secured inside the sanctuary vault of the Chetiyagiri Vihara. Exclusively on the final weekend (last Saturday and Sunday) of November each year, during the annual Chetiyagiri Vihara Relic Festival (Sanchi Mahabodhi Mahotsava), the authentic relics are brought out in public procession and displayed for direct veneration by thousands of Buddhist monastics and pilgrims from around the world.
How are the monuments of Sanchi connected to the national symbols and currency of modern India?
The four-lion capital of Ashoka Pillar No. 10 at Sanchi (displayed in the Sanchi Archaeological Museum) is the sister sculpture to Ashoka's Four-Lion Capital at Sarnath, which serves as the National Emblem of the Republic of India. Along with these structures, the iconic dome and Torana gateways of the Great Stupa at Sanchi are featured on the reverse of India's 200-Rupee banknote issued by the Reserve Bank of India since 2017.