SANCHI
Sanchi is a small village located in Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh state, India. It is 46 km northeast of Bhopal and 10 km from Besnagar and Vidisha in the central part of Madhya Pradesh. There are Buddhist monuments here, which date back to the 3rd century BC. are from the middle of the twelfth century. This is Nagar Panchayat of Raisen district. A stupa is situated here. There are also many pylons surrounding this stupa. This love is epitome of peace, trust and courage. The stupa of Sanchi, Emperor Ashoka the Great, the third century BC Was built in Its center was a simple semi-circular, brick-built structure built on some relics of the Buddha. It had a parasol on its summit, which was a token of respect given to the monument.
HISTORY
This famous place, where a great stupa built by Ashoka, whose grand archway and the world famous sculptor on them are among the best examples of ancient architecture and sculpture of India. The famous Aishwaryashalini city of Buddhist is located near Vidisha (Bhilsa). It seems that Sanchi was a suburb and a vihar-site of Vidisha in the Buddhist period. In the opinion of Sir John Marshall, [1] the place named Kalidasa by Neechagiri near Vidisha in Meghdoot is the hill of Sanchi. It is said that Ashoka had built this beautiful stupa in Sanchi only at the behest of his beloved wife Devi. Devi was the daughter of one of Vidisha's nobles and Ashoka married him when he was the virgin of Vidisha during his father's reign.
RECORD
In many records found from Sanchi, this place has been named as 'Kakanadbot'. Chief among these is that of 131 Gupta era (450-51) AD which belongs to the reign of Kumaragupta I. It mentions the donation of some money in the name of Aryasangh located in Kaknadbot by Upasika Hariswamini, wife of Buddhist worshiper Sansiddha. Another article is engraved on a pillar, which is related to Viharasvamin, son of Gosursinghbal. This is also the Gupta period.
THE ESTABLISHMENT
The establishment of Sanchi was the greatest contribution of Ashoka, the great king of the Mauryan period, in the propagation of Buddhism and its education. He started work under a well-planned plan to spread the Buddha's message to the world. First of all, he gave statehood to Buddhism. He dug up the old stupas and got 84 thousand of the remains found from them and sent them to nearby countries including his kingdom and built a large number of stupas. Turn these stupas into permanent structures so that they can last longer. Sanchi was also one of the places where Emperor Ashoka built Buddhist monuments in India, which is known by the ancient name Kankenwa, Kakanya, etc. It had then developed into a major center of Buddhist education. There is no mention of the Buddha going from Bodh Gaya to Sanchi in Hieun Song's travelogue. It is possible that Sanchi's proximity to Ujjayini and being on the itinerary going from east to west and north to south has been one of the reasons for its establishment.
RENOVATIONS
Sanchi's fame remained till Rajput period, but during Aurangzeb's period, the center of Buddhism was lost in Sanchi oblivion. After that, thick shrubs and trees grew around here. In the 19th century, when Colonel Taylor came here, he found Sanchi stupas in bad condition. He dug and arranged them. Some historians believe that they dug inside it in the view of wealth, which caused a lot of damage to its structure. Later, the pujavid marshal got them renovated. It was very difficult to trace the entire construction of Sanchi in the midst of thickly thick shrubs and give them the original shape, but they helped to restore its old glory to some extent.
SPECIALTY
This Stupa is built on a high hill. There is a beautiful roundabout around it. The four toran stupas made of sandstone are situated on whose long plaques, there is a wonderful marking of the stories related to the life of the Buddha, especially the Jataka, as a sculptor. This sculptor depicts all forms of ancient Indian life. Apart from humans, lively pictures of animals, birds and plants are the main feature of this art. Simplicity, generality, and the emergence of beauty are the motivational power of Sanchi sculpture.
The sculpture of Gautama Buddha is not found in this sculptor because until that time [3] Buddha was not worshiped by making an idol as a deity. With the rise of Mahayana religion during the reign of Kanishka, the statue of Gautama Buddha entered Buddhism. Buddha's presence in Sanchi is indicated by some of his distinctive symbols, such as his homily renunciation depicted by a horse, devoid of cavalry, with a parasol installed on it. In the same way, the Buddha's Bodhi is given an idea by the empty Vajrasana under the Peepal tree. In the depiction of animals and birds, a sculpture of Sanchi is very beautiful. It has a depiction of an animal hospital where a monkey is amusingly examining a parrot's deformed eye. The emulsion given to a ascetic Buddha by a monkey is also wonderfully depicted. The sign of a monkey carrying a kheer in a bowl is slowly approaching Vajrasana under the ashwattha tree and returning with an empty bowl, in which several statues of the same monkey are painted to show the feeling of reality. The sculpture of Sanchi, like the sculpture of Amravati of South India, presents a beautiful tableau of the simple and simple life of pre-Buddhist India. From this Sanchi Stupa, excavations have unearthed bone remains of monks named Sariputra and Moggallayan which are now preserved in the local museum. Sanchi also has another small stupa of Ashoka's time. It does not have an archway. A stone pillar of Ashoka on which the inscription of the Maurya emperor is inscribed is among the important monuments here. This pillar was received during the breakup.
STUPA OF SANCHI
Sanchi Stupas may have slight semi-circular structures in view from a distance, but its grandeur, peculiarity and nuances can be detected only by visiting Sanchi. That is why a large number of Buddhist, tourists, researchers, scholars from the country and the world come to see this unique structure. The stupas at Sanchi were constructed in several periods, which are believed to date from the third century BC to the middle of the twelfth century. In 483 BCE, when Gautama Buddha sacrificed his body, his followers, the king, fought among themselves to fight over the remains of his body. Finally, a Buddhist saint understood and extinguished the parts of the remains of his body and distributed them. Initially, eight stupas were constructed with them and thus after the Nirvana of Gautama Buddha, the propagation of Buddhism started as a symbol of these stupas.
BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE
In Buddhism, teachings have importance in place of theistic doctrine. The stupa was a new idea beyond the temple in these structures. The word 'stupa' is believed to be derived from Sanskrit and Pali which means 'heap'. Initially, the remains of the Tathagata were placed in the central part and they were given a circular shape by putting mud stones on it. In these, such masonry of bricks and stones was done from outside so that the weather could not have any effect on these stupas in the open. Stupas have no sanctum sanctorum like a temple. The stupa built by Ashok at Sanchi was distinctive from earlier stupas. The best of Buddhist art are the masterpieces of Buddhist architectural craft in Sanchi which include 'Stupa', 'Toran', 'Pillar'. Among them Stupa No.1 was built by Emperor Ashoka in which the remains of Mahatma Buddha were kept.
There are also two other small stupas here in which the remains of two of his early disciples are kept. To enter the 'Vedika' of the first stupa, toran gates are built in all four directions. Outside the entire stupa, which used to be hard wood earlier, today there is a stone railing. There is a Vedika inside and a 'Pradakshina Path' to go to some height. A square railing of stones is built on the dome of the stupa and there is a 'three-tier umbrella' on the top. There are four pylons in four directions for entering the Vedika of the stupa. In stone pylons, tableaux and Jataka passages of the life of Mahatma Buddha have been engraved. This work has been done so closely that it is as if the craftsmen have coined them with a pen brush. The Ashoka pillar is installed in front of the southern archway of this stupa. Its stone is not found anywhere nearby. It is believed that this column weighing 50 tons was established here by bringing it from Chunar, hundreds of kilometers away. Here are the remains of a temple which is said to have been built during the Gupta period.
BUDDHIST MONASTERY
Near the stupas of Sanchi are the remains of a Buddhist monastery where Buddhist monks lived. This is the huge stone bowl with which food was distributed among the monks. There are a total of four dozen small structures including Maurya, Sunga, Kushana, Satavahana and Gupta relics. During the Sunga period, the stupa built by Ashoka in Sanchi was expanded, increasing its diameter from 70 feet to 120 feet and height to 54 feet. Apart from this, other stupas were constructed here. The renovation of these stupas in Sanchi lasted for a long time in which imaginations were used to make it unique. After this, the Sunga and Kushan kings built other stupas here during their times. Maurya, Sunga, Kushan Satavahana and Buddhism flourished for the Gupta period, but after their fall, the end of state religion began to decline with the end of the royal cult. But later rulers allowed Buddhist monuments and temples to remain unchanged.
Included in UNESCO list
The 'Sanchi', a confluence of religion and tourism, increased its importance since its inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1989. Being a major center of Buddhism, there is a gathering of native and foreign dignitaries here. Thousands of tourists arrive every day to see the grandeur of Sanchi, which has a large number of foreign tourists. The management and preservation work of this entire complex is under the Archaeological Survey of India department. The archaeological museum here is also worth visiting. Initially it was built near the stupas in the year 1919 but as the material started getting abundant it was shifted to the new museum building in 1986 at the base of the Sanchi hill. Remains of Maurya, Sunga, Satavahana, Kushan, Gupta stone stone art, sculptures, inscriptions etc. are seen in this museum. The magnificence of these Sanchi monuments not only enchants visitors, but the serene atmosphere here helps every visitor to understand the message of peace of Mahatma Buddha.
HOW TO REACH
Easy departure can be done by air, rail, bus etc. to Sanchi.
By plane
The nearest airport is at Raja Bhoj Airport, Bhopal, which has flights daily from cities like Delhi, Mumbai.
By Rail
Nittakam railway station is at Bhopal Junction, Habibganj which is connected to all major cities of the country.
By Bus
One can also easily go by bus. Sanchi is 46 km from Bhopal, 10 km from Vidisha and 232 km from Indore.
No comments:
Post a Comment