සාංචිය

ඛණ්ඩාංක:23°28′45″N77°44′23″E﻿ / ﻿23.479223°N 77.739683°E﻿ /23.479223; 77.739683
සාංචි ස්තූපයඉන්දියාවේමධ්‍ය ප්‍රදේශ්ප්‍රාන්තයේරායිසේන් දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේසාංචි නගරයේපිහිටා ඇත. එයමධ්‍ය ප්‍රදේශ්හි අගනුවර වනභෝපාල්සිට කිලෝමීටර 46ක් (සැතපුම් 29) ඊසානදිගට වන්නට පිහිටා තිබේ.
සාංචියේ මහාස්තූපයඉන්දියාවේ පැරණිතම පාෂාණමය ඉදිකිරීමක් වන අතර, එයඉන්දියානු ගෘහනිර්මාණ ශිල්පයේවැදගත් ස්මාරකයක් වේ.මෙහි මුල් නිර්මාණය ක්‍රි.පූ. 3වන සියවසේඅශෝකඅධිරාජයාගේ මූලිකත්වයෙන් සිදු විය. එහි ගර්භය සරල අර්ධ ගෝලාකාර ගඩොළු ව්‍යූහයක් වූ අතර, එහිබුදුන් වහන්සේගේ ධාතූන් තැන්පත් කොට තිබිණි. It was crowned by thechhatri, a parasol-like structure symbolising high rank, which was intended to honour and shelter the relics. The original construction work of this stupa was overseen by Ashoka, whose wife Devi was the daughter of a merchant of nearbyVidisha. Sanchi was also her birthplace as well as the venue of her and Ashoka's wedding. In the 1st century BCE, four elaborately carvedtoranas(ornamental gateways) and a balustrade encircling the entire structure were added. The Sanchi Stupa built during Mauryan period was made of bricks. The composite flourished until the 11th century.
Sanchi is the center of a region with a number of stupas, all within a few miles of Sanchi, includingSatdhara(9 km to the W of Sanchi, 40 stupas, theRelics of Sariputra and Mahamoggallana, now enshrined in the new Vihara, were unearthed there),Bhojpur(also called Morel Khurd, a fortified hilltop with 60 stupas) andAndher(respectively 11 km and 17 km SE of Sanchi), as well asSonari(10 km SW of Sanchi).Further south, about 100 km away, isSaru Maru.Bharhutis 300 km to the northeast.
Sanchi Stupa is depicted on the reverse side of the Indian currency note of Rs 200 to signify its importance to Indian cultural heritage.
වර්තමානයේ සාංචියේ දක්නට ලැබෙන ස්මාරකමෞර්ය අධිරාජ්‍යයුගයේ (ක්‍රි.පූ. 3වන සියවස) සිට අඛණ්ඩවගුප්ත අධිරාජ්‍යයුගය (ක්‍රි.ව. 5වන සියවස) දක්වාත්, සහ අවසානයේ ක්‍රි.ව. 12වන සියවස අවට දී නිර්මාණය වූ බෞද්ධ ස්මාරක සමූහයකි.මෙය බොහෝවිට ඉන්දියාවේ වඩාත්ම හොඳින් සංරක්ෂණය වී ඇති බෞද්ධ ස්මාරක සමූහය විය හැක.මෙහි ඇති පැරණිතම සහ විශාලතම ස්මාරකය වන මහා ස්තූපය හෙවත් ස්‍තූප අංක 1 මුලින්ම මෞර්ය ‍යුගයේ ඉදිවූ අතර, එය අසලඅශෝක ස්තම්භයක් ද පිහිටුවා තිබිණි.පසුකාලීන සියවස්වල දී, විශේෂයෙන්මශුංගසහසාතවාහනයන්ගේකාලසීමාවේ දී මහා ස්තූපය විශාල කොට තනවා අලංකාර තොරණ සහ වේදිකා ද එක් කරන ලදී. එසේම මෙය ආසන්නයේ කුඩා ස්තූප, විශේෂයෙන්ස්‍තූප අං.2, සහ ස්තූප අං.3. ඉදිකරන ලදී
ඉන් අනතුරුව,ගුප්ත අධිරාජ්‍යයුගය තෙක්ම එයට විවිධ අංග එක් කෙරිණි. මේ අනුව, සමස්තයක් වශයෙන් ගත්කළ සාංචියපුරාතන ඉන්දියානු ගෘහනිර්මාණ ශිල්පයේසහ ඉන්දියානුබෞද්ධ ගෘහනිර්මාණ ශිල්පයේවිකාසනය පෙන්වන කැඩපතක් බඳු ය. මෙමඟින් මුල්කාලීන බුද්ධාගම, එහි ආදිතම කලා සම්ප්‍රදායයන් සහඉන්දීය උපමහාද්වීපයේ බුද්ධාගමේ පරිහානියතෙක් කාලසීමාව නිරූපණය කරයි.
සාංචියේ "මහා ස්තූපය" මෙහි ඇති පැරණිතම ව්‍යූහය වන අතර, එය මුලින් නිර්මාණය කරන ලද්දේ ක්‍රි.පූ. 3වන සියවසේමෞර්ය අධිරාජඅශෝකවිසිනි.මෙහි මධ්‍යයබුදුන් වහන්සේගේධාතුනිධන් කොට තැනූ අර්ධ ගෝලාකාර  ගඩොල් නිමැවුමකින් සමන්විත විය.එහි පාදම වටා උස්වූ පේසාවක් පිහිටි අතර, ගර්භය මත ගරාදි වැටක් සහ උසස් බව හැඟවීම උදෙසාඡත්‍රයක් ද සවිකොට තිබිණ.මෙහි මුල් ස්‍තූපය වර්තමාන ස්තූපයේ විෂ්කම්භයෙන් අඩක් පමණ වූ අතර,ශුංගයන්විසින් එය විශාල කොට ඇත. වර්තමානයේ පාෂාණයෙන් ආවරණය කිට තිබුණ ද, අතීතයේ එය ගඩොල්වලින් ආවරණය කොට තිබිණි.
According to one version of theMahavamsa, the Buddhist chronicle ofSri Lanka, Ashoka was closely connected to the region of Sanchi. When he was heir-apparent and was journeying as Viceroy toUjjain, he is said to have halted atVidisha(10 kilometers from Sanchi), and there married the daughter of a local banker. She was calledDeviand later gave Ashoka two sons, Ujjeniya andMahendra, and a daughterSanghamitta. After Ashoka's accession, Mahendra headed a Buddhist mission, sent probably under the auspices of the Emperor, to Sri Lanka, and that before setting out to the island he visited his mother at Chetiyagiri near Vidisa, thought to be Sanchi. He was lodged there in a sumptuous vihara or monastery, which she herself is said to have had erected.
A pillar of finely polished sandstone, one of thePillars of Ashoka, was also erected on the side of the mainToranagateway. The bottom part of the pillar still stands. The upper parts of the pillar are at the nearbySanchi Archaeological Museum. The capital consists in four lions, which probably supported aWheel of Law,as also suggestedby later illustrations among the Sanchi reliefs. The pillar has an Ashokan inscription (Schism Edict)and an inscription in the ornamentalSankha Lipifrom the Gupta period.The Ashokan inscription is engraved in earlyBrahmicharacters. It is unfortunately much damaged, but the commands it contains appear to be the same as those recorded in theSarnathandKausambiedicts, which together form the three known instances of Ashoka's "Schism Edict". It relates to the penalties for schism in the Buddhist sangha:
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 anabacusand 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 fourflame palmettedesigns separated one from the other by pairs ofgeese, 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.
Thesandstoneout of which the pillar is carved came from the quarries ofChunarseveral 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.
Another structure which has been dated, at least partially, to the 3rd century BCE, is the so-calledTemple 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 byBindusara, the father of Ashoka.The original 3rd century BCE temple was built on a high rectangular stone platform, 26.52×14×3.35 metres, with two flights of stairs to the east and the west. It was anapsidalhall, probably made of timber. It was burnt down sometime in the 2nd century BCE.
Later, the platform was enlarged to 41.76×27.74 metres and re-used to erect a pillared hall with fifty columns (5×10) of which stumps remain. Some of these pillars have inscriptions of the 2nd century BCE. 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.
On the basis ofAshokavadana, it is presumed that the stupa may have been vandalized at one point sometime in the 2nd century BCE, an event some have related to the rise of the Shunga emperorPushyamitra Shungawho overtook the Mauryan Empire as an army general. It has been suggested that Pushyamitra may have destroyed the original stupa, and his sonAgnimitrarebuilt it.The original brick stupa was covered with stone during the Shunga period.
Given the rather decentralized and fragmentary nature of the Shunga state, with many cities actually issuing their own coinage, as well as the relative dislike of the Shungas for Buddhism, some authors argue that the constructions of that period in Sanchi cannot really be called "Shunga". They were not the result of royal sponsorship, in contrast with what happened during the Mauryas, and most of the dedications at Sanchi were private or collective, rather than the result of royal patronage.
The style of the Shunga period decorations at Sanchi bear a close similarity to those ofBharhut, as well as the peripheral balustrades at theMahabodhi TempleinBodh Gaya.
During the later rule of the Shunga, the stupa 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 thedharma, the Wheel of the Law. The dome was set on a high circular drum meant forcircumambulation, which could be accessed via a double staircase. A second stone pathway at ground level was enclosed by a stone balustrade. The railings around Stupa 1 do not have artistic reliefs. These are only slabs, with some dedicatory inscriptions. These elements are dated to circa 150 BCE,or 175–125 BCE.Although the railings are made up of stone, they are copied from a wooden prototype, and as John Marshall has observed the joints between the coping stones have been cut at a slant, as wood is naturally cut, and not vertically as stone should be cut. Besides the short records of the donors written on the railings in Brahmi script, there are two later inscriptions on the railings added during the time of the Gupta Period.Some reliefs are visible on the stairway balustrade, but they are probably slightly later than those at Stupa No2,and are dated to 125–100 BCE.Some authors consider that these reliefs, rather crude and without obvious Buddhist connotations, are the oldest reliefs of all Sanchi, slightly older even than the reliefs ofSanchi Stupa No.2.
The stupas which seem to have been commissioned during the rule of the Shungas are the Second and then the Thirdstupas(but not the highly decorated gateways, which are from the followingSatavahanaperiod, as known from inscriptions), following the ground balustrade and stone casing of the Great Stupa (Stupa No 1). The reliefs are dated to circa 115 BCE for the medallions, and 80 BCE for the pillar carvings,slightly before the reliefs ofBharhutfor the earliest, with some reworks down to the 1st century CE.
Stupa No. 2was established later than the Great Stupa, but it is probably displaying the earliest architectural ornaments.For the first time, clearly Buddhist themes are represented, particularly the four events in the life of the Buddha that are: the Nativity, the Enlightenment, the First Sermon and the Decease.
The decorations of Stupa No. 2 have been called "the oldest extensive stupa decoration in existence",and this Stupa is considered as the birthplace ofJatakaillustrations.The reliefs at Stupa No.2 bear mason marks inKharoshthi, as opposed to the localBrahmiscript.This seems to imply that foreign workers from the north-west (from the region ofGandhara, whereKharoshthiwas 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 BCE, the embassy ofHeliodorusfromIndo-GreekkingAntialkidasto the court of theSungaskingBhagabhadrain nearbyVidishais recorded, in which Heliodorus established theHeliodorus pillarin a dedication toVāsudeva. This would indicate that relations had improved at that time, and that people traveled between the two realms.
Stupa No. 3 was built during the time of the Shungas, who also built the railing around it as well as the staircase. TheRelics of Sariputra and Mahamoggallana, the disciples of the Buddha are said to have been placed in Stupa No. 3, and relics boxes were excavated tending to confirm this.
The reliefs on the railings are said to be slightly later than those of Stupa No. 2.
The single torana gateway oriented to the south is not Shunga, and was built later under theSatavahanas, probably circa 50 BCE.
Pillar 25 at Sanchi is also attributed to the Sungas, in the 2nd–1st century BCE, and is considered as similar in design to theHeliodorus pillar, locally calledKham Babapillar, dedicated byHeliodorus, the ambassador to theIndo-GreekkingAntialkidas, in nearbyVidishacirca 100 BCE.That it belongs to about the period of the Sunga, is clear alike from its design and from 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 isoctagonal; 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 thearrisesof theoctagon. 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-shapedPersepolitantype, withlotusleaves falling over the shoulder of the bell. Above this is a circular cable necking, then a second circular necking relieved by abeadand lozenge pattern, and, finally, a deep squareabacusadorned with arailingin relief. The crowning feature, probably a lion, has disappeared.
TheSatavahana EmpireunderSatakarni IIconquered easternMalwafrom theShungas.This gave the Satavahanas access to the Buddhist site of Sanchi, in which they are credited with the building of the decorated gateways around the originalMauryan EmpireandSungastupas.From the 1st century BCE, the highly decorated gateways were built. The balustrade and the gateways were also colored.Later gateways/toranas are generally dated to the 1st century CE.
TheSiri-Satakani inscriptionin theBrahmi scriptrecords the gift of one of the toparchitravesof the Southern Gateway by the artisans of the Satavahana kingSatakarni II:
There are some uncertainties about the date and the identity of theSatakarniin question, as a king Satakarni is mentioned in theHathigumpha inscriptionwhich is sometimes dated to the 2nd century BCE. Also, several Satavahana kings used the name "Satakarni", which complicates the matter. Usual dates given for the gateways range from 50 BCE to the 1st century CE, and the builder of the earliest gateways is generally considered to beSatakarni II, who ruled in 50-25 BCE.Another early Satavahana monument is known,Cave No.19of kingKanha(100-70 BCE) at theNasik Caves, which is much less developed artistically than the Sanchi toranas.
Although made of stone, thetoranagateways were carved and constructed in the manner of wood and the gateways were covered with narrative sculptures. It has also been suggested that the stone reliefs were made by ivory carvers from nearbyVidisha, and an inscription on the Southern Gateway of the Great Stupa ("The Worship of the Bodhisattva's hair") was dedicated by the Guild of Ivory Carvers ofVidisha.
The inscription reads:"Vedisakehi damtakārehi rupakammam katam"meaning "The ivory-workers from Vidisha have done the carving".Some of theBegram ivoriesor the "Pompeii Lakshmi" give an indication of the kind of ivory works that could have influenced the carvings at Sanchi.
The reliefs show 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. At Sanchi and most other stupas the local population donated money for the embellishment of the stupa to attain spiritual merit. There was no direct royal patronage. Devotees, both men and women, who donated money 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, due toaniconism in Buddhism. 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 thebodhi treeat the point of his enlightenment. The human body was thought to be too confining for the Buddha.
Similarities have been found in the designs of thecapitalsof various areas of northern India from the time ofAshokato the time of theSatavahanasat Sanchi: particularly between thePataliputra capitalat theMauryan Empirecapital ofPataliputra(3rd century BCE), the pillar capitals at theSunga EmpireBuddhist complex ofBharhut(2nd century BCE), and the pillar capitals of the Satavahanas at Sanchi (1st centuries BCE/CE).
The earliest known example in India, thePataliputra capital(3rd century BCE) is decorated with rows of repeatingrosettes,ovolosandbead and reelmouldings,wave-likescrollsand sidevoluteswith centralrosettes, around a prominent centralflame palmette, which is the main motif. These are quite similar toClassical Greekdesigns, and the capital has been described as quasi-Ionic.Greek influence,as well asPersianAchaemenid influencehave been suggested.
TheSarnath capitalis a pillar capital discovered in the archaeological excavations at the ancientBuddhistsite ofSarnath.The pillar displaysIonicvolutes andpalmettes.It has been variously dated from the 3rd century BCE during theMauryan Empireperiod,to the 1st century BCE, during theSunga Empireperiod.One of the faces shows a galopping horse carrying a rider, while the other face shows an elephant and itsmahaut.
The pillar capital in Bharhut, dated to the 2nd century BCE during theSunga Empireperiod, also incorporates many of these characteristics,with a centralanta capitalwith manyrosettes,beads-and-reels, as well as a centralpalmettedesign.Importantly, recumbent animals (lions, symbols of Buddhism) were added, in the style of thePillars of Ashoka.
The Sanchi pillar capital is keeping the general design, seen at Bharhut a century earlier, of recumbent lions grouped around a central square-section post, with the central design of aflame palmette, which started with the Pataliputra capital. However the design of the central post is now simpler, with the flame palmette taking all the available room.Elephants were later used to adorn the pillar capitals (still with the central palmette design), and lastly,Yakshas(here the palmette design disappears).
විවිධ ජාතක කථා නිරූපණය කොට ඇත. මෙමඟින් බුදුන් වහන්සේබෝධිසත්ත්වයකුව සිට පෙර ආත්ම භවයන් නිරූපණය වේ. මෙහි හමුවන ජාතක කථා අතරසාම සාතකය,වෙස්සන්තරජාතකය සහමහාකපි ජාතකයකිහිපයකි.
Numerous miracles made by the Buddha are recorded. Among them:
Numerous scene refer to the temptation of the Buddha, when he was confronted with the seductive daughters ofMaraand with his army of demons. Having resisted the temptations of Mara, the Buddha finds enlightenment.
Other similar scenes on the same subject:
The southern gate of Stupa No1, thought to be oldest and main entrance to the stupa,has several depictions of the story of the Buddha's relics, starting with the War over the Relics.
After the death of the Buddha, theMallasofKushinagarwanted to keep his ashes, but the other kingdoms also wanting their part went to war and besieged the city of Kushinagar. Finally, an agreement was reached, and the Buddha's cremation relics were divided among 8 royal families and his disciples.This famous view shows warfare techniques at the time of the Satavahanas, as well as a view of the city ofKushinagarof theMallas, which has been relied on for the understanding of ancient Indian cities.
Other narrative panels related to the War over the Buddha's Relics at Sanchi are:
According to Buddhist legend, a few centuries later, the relics would be removed from the eight guardian kingdoms byKing Ashoka, and enshrined into 84,000 stupas.Ashoka obtained the ashes from seven of the guardian kingdoms, but failed to take the ashes from theNagasatRamagramawho were too powerful, and were able to keep them. This scene is depicted in one of the transversal portions of the southern gateway of Stupa No1 at Sanchi. Ashoka is shown on the right in his charriot and his army, the stupa with the relics is in the center, and the Naga kings with their serpent hoods at the extreme left under the trees.
Ashoka went toBodh Gayato visit theBodhi Treeunder which the Buddha had his enlightenment, as described hisMajor Rock Edict No.8. However Ashoka was profoundly grieved when he discovered that the sacredpipal treewas not properly being taken care of and dying out due to the neglect of Queen Tiṣyarakṣitā.
As a consequence, Ashoka endeavoured to take care of the Bodhi Tree, and built a temple around it. This temple became the center ofBodh Gaya. A sculpture at Sanchi, southern gateway of Stupa No1, shows Ashoka in grief being supported by his two Queens. Then the relief above shows the Bodhi Tree prospering inside its new temple. Numerous other sculptures at Sanchi show scenes of devotion towards the Bodhi Tree, and the Bodhi Tree inside its temple at Bodh Gaya.
Other versions of the relief depicting the temple for the Bodhi Tree are visible at Sanchi, such as theTemple for the Bodhi Tree (Eastern Gateway).
Some of the friezes of Sanchi also show devotees in Greek attire, wearing kilted tunics and some of them a Greekpiloihat.They are also sometimes described asSakas, although the historical period seems too early for their presence in Central India, and the two pointed hats seem too short to be Scythian.The official notice at Sanchi describes "Foreigners worshiping Stupa".The men are depicted with short curly hair, often held together with aheadbandof the type commonly seen onGreek coins. The clothing too is Greek, complete withtunics, capes and sandals, typical of theGreek travelling costume.The musical instruments are also quite characteristic, such as the "thoroughly Greek" double flute calledaulos.Also visible arecarnyx-likehorns.
The actual participation ofYavanas/Yonas(Greek donors)to the construction of Sanchi is known from three inscriptions made by self-declared Yavana donors:
Around 113 BCE,Heliodorus, an ambassador of theIndo-GreekrulerAntialcidas, is known to have dedicated a pillar, theHeliodorus pillar, around 5 miles from Sanchi, in the village ofVidisha.
Another rather similar foreigner is also depicted inBharhut, theBharhut Yavana(circa 100 BCE),  also wearing a tunic and a royal headband in the manner of a Greek king, and displaying a Buddhisttriratnaon his sword.Another onecan be seen in the region ofOdisha, in theUdayagiri and Khandagiri Caves.
In all these scenes, the Buddha is never represented, being absent altogether even from scenes of his life where he is playing a central role: in theMiracle of the Buddha walking on the river Nairanjanahe is just represented by his path on the water;in theProcession of king Suddhodana from Kapilavastu, he walks in the air at the end of the procession, but his presence is only suggested by people turning their heads upward toward the symbol of his path.
In one of the reliefs of theMiracle at Kapilavastu, KingSuddhodanais seen praying as his son theBuddharises in the air. The Buddha praised is praised by celestial beings, but only his path is visible in the form of a slab hanging in middle air, called achankramaor "promenade".
Otherwise, the presence of the Buddha is symbolized by an empty throne, as in the scene ofBimbisara with his royal cortege issuing from the city of Rajagriha to visit the Buddha.Similar scenes would later appear in theGreco-Buddhist artofGandhara, but this time with representations of the Buddha.John Marshalldetailed every panel in his seminal work "A Guide to Sanchi".
This anoconism is relation to the image of the Buddha could be in conformity with an ancient Buddhist prohibition against showing the Buddha himself in human form, known from theSarvastivadavinaya(rules of the early Buddhist school of theSarvastivada):""Since it is not permitted to make an image of the Buddha's body, I pray that the Buddha will grant that I can make an image of the attendant Bodhisattva. Is that acceptable?" The Buddha answered: "You may make an image of the Bodhisattava"".
The gateways depict various scenes of the life of the Buddha, as well as events after his death, in particular the War of the Relics and the efforts of emperorAshokato spread the Buddhist faith.
The Southern Gateway of Stupa No1 is thought to be oldest and main entrance to the stupa.The narrative friezes of this gateway put great emphasis on the relics of the Buddha, and on the role ofAshokain spreading the Buddhist faith. This gateway is one of the two which were reconstructed by Major Cole in 1882–83. The whole of the right jamb and half of the left are new and blank, as well as the west end of the lowest architrave, the east end of the middle architrave, and the six vertical uprights between the architraves.
The Northern Gateway is the best preserved of all the gateways, and was the second to be erected. The numerous panels relate various events of the life of the Buddha. Only one atypical panel (Right pillar, Inner face/ Top panel) showsForeigners making a dedication at the Southern Gateway of Stupa No 1.
The Eastern Gateway describes historical events during the life of the Buddha, as well as several miracles performed by the Buddha. It was the third gateway to be erected.
The Western Gateway of Stupa 1 is the last of the four gateway of the Great Stupa to have been built.
The gateway of Stupa No 3, is the last of all theSatavahanagateways that were built at Sanchi. It is located to the immediate south of Stupa No 3, is smaller than the four gateways encircling the Great Stupa. It is also slightly older, and generally dated to the 1st century CE.
12වන සියවස තෙක්ම මෙම සංකීර්ණය වෙත තවත් ස්තූප සහ වෙනත් බෞද්ධ ගොඩනැගිලි ගණනාවක්ම ඉදි විය.
ක්‍රි.පූ./ක්‍රි.ව. 1වන සියවස්වල සාංචි ප්‍රදේශයේ සාතවාහන පාලනය පැවති බවටසාතකර්ණීනමයෙන් නිකුත් කළවීදිශා,උජ්ජෛන්සහඒරාන්ප්‍රදේශවලින් හමුවූ සාතවාහන තඹ කාසි මෙන්ම, ස්තූප අංක 1 හි දකුණු තොරණෙහි වූ සාතකර්ණී සෙල්ලිපිය සාක්ෂ්‍ය සපයයි.
ඉන් මඳ කලකට පසුව, මෙම ප්‍රදේශයසිතියානුබටහිර ක්ෂත්‍රපයන්ගේ, විශේෂයෙන්නාහපාන(ක්‍රි.ව. 120) රජුගේ ග්‍රහණයට නතු විය.ඉන් අනතුරුව නිසැකැවම එයපළමුවන රුද්‍රදාමන්(ක්‍රි.ව. 130-150) පාලනයට නතුවූ බව ඔහුගේජුනාගාධ්අභිලේඛන මඟින් පෙනී යයි.සාතවාහනයන් මඳ කලකට සිය පාලනය බලය ‍යළි ලබාගන්නට සමත් වුවද, ක්‍රි.ව. 3වන සියවසේ මැද භාගය වන විට බලය නැවතත්දෙවන රුද්‍රසේන(ක්‍රි.ව. 255-278) යටතේ බටහිර ක්ෂ්ත්‍රපයන් සතු විය. බටහිර ක්ෂ්ත්‍රපයන් 4වන සියවස තෙක් බලයේ රැඳී සිටි බව  අවට වූකානකේර්හා අභිලේඛනයඅනුව පෙනේ. එම සෙල්ලිපිය අනුව ශක ප්‍රධානී සහ "සාධාරණ  Satraps remained well into the 4th century as shown by the nearbyKanakerha inscriptionmentioning the construction of a well by the Saka chief and "righteous conqueror"Sridharavarman, who ruled circa 339-368 CE.Therefore, it seems that theKushan Empiredid not extend to the Sanchi area, and the few Kushan works of art found in Sanchi appear to have come fromMathura.In particular, a few Mathura statues in the name of the Kushan rulerVasishka(247-267 CE) were found in Sanchi.
The next rulers of the area were the Guptas.Inscriptions of a victoriousChandragupta IIin the year 412-423 CE can be found on the railing near the Eastern Gateway of the Great Stupa.
Temple 17 is an early stand-alonetemple(following the great cave temples ofIndian rock-cut architecture), as it dates to the earlyGuptaperiod (probably first quarter of 5th century CE). It may have been built for Buddhist use (which is not certain), but the type of which it represents a very early version was to become very significant inHindu temple architecture.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,not unlike the 2nd century rock-cut cave temples of theNasik Caves.  The four columns are more traditional, the octagonal shafts rising from square bases to bell capitals, surmounted by largeabacusblocks carved with back-to-back lions.
Next to Temple 17 stands Temple 18, the framework of a mostly 7th-century apsidalchaitya-hall temple, again perhaps Buddhist or Hindu, that was rebuilt over an earlier hall.  This was probably covered by a wood and thatch roof.
Near the Northwern Gateway also used to stand aVajrapanipillar. Another pillar ofPadmapaniused to stand, andthe statueis now in theVictoria and Albert Museum,London.
Pillar No26 stands a little to the north of the Sunga pillar No25. It belongs to the early Gupta age. Apart from its design, it is distinguished
from the other pillars on the site by the unusual quality and colour of its stone, which is harder than that ordinarily quarried in theUdayagiri hill, and of a pale
buff hue splashed and streaked with amethyst. At Sanchi this particular variety of stone was used only in monuments of the Gupta period. This pillar was approximately 22 ft. 6 in. in height and was composed of two pieces only, one comprising the circular shaft and square base, the other the bell-capital, necking, lions and crowningchakra. On the northwest side of the lowest section, which is still in situ, is a short mutilated inscription in Gupta characters recording the gift of the pillar by aviharasvamin(master of a monastery), the son of Gotaisimhabala.
As was usual with pillars of the Gupta age, the square base projected above the ground level, the projection in this case being 1 ft. 2 in., and was enclosed by a small square platform. The lion capital of this pillar is a feeble imitation of the one which surmounted the pillar of Asoka, with the addition of a wheel at the summit and with certain other variations of detail. For example, the cable necking above the bell-capital, is composed of a series of strands bound together with a riband. Also, the reliefs on the circularabacus, consist of birds and lotuses of unequal sizes disposed in irregular fashion, not with the symmetrical precision of earlier Indian art. Finally, these lions, like those on the pillars of the Southern Gateway, are provided with five claws on each foot, and their modelling exhibits little regard for truth and little artistry.
There has been much confusion about the dating of this pillars, since it was often presented from the beginning as a pillar of Ashoka. Marshall himself describes the pillar as earlyGupta Empirein convincing terms, either from the points of view of material, technique or artistry.The Government of India Photo Division describes it inthis imageas "An Asoka pillar and its broken lion capital near the south gateway of the Great Stupa."[7]. The British Library Online also describes it as 3rd century BCE Mauryan, although probably pasting the original text from the 19th century[8]සංරක්ෂණය කළ පිටපත2021-04-20 at theWayback Machine. Sachim Kumar Tiwary inMonolithic Pillars of The Gupta Period, affirms a Gupta date.TheSanchi Archaeological Museumgives it a date of 600 CE, which would even put it beyond the Gupta period proper, at the time of theLater Gupta dynasty.
The massive pillar near the North Gateway, numbered 35 in the plan, was erected during the Gupta period. Every feature, whether structural, stylistic or technical, is typical of
Gupta workmanship. Most of the shaft has been destroyed, but the stump still remains in situ, and the foundations are intact. The form, too, of the platform around its base is sufficiently clear, and the capital and statue which it is said to have supported, are both relatively well-preserved. What remains of the shaft is 9 ft. in length, 3 ft. 10 in. of which, measured from the top, are circular and smooth, and the remainder, constituting the base, square and rough-dressed. In the Gupta age, it was the common practice to keep the
bases of such monolithic columns square, whereas those of the Maurya age were invariably circular. The columns of the Maurya period are distinguished by its exquisite dressing and highly polished surface; but in this case the dressing of the stone is characterized by no such lustrous finish.
ThePersepolitancapitaland squareabacusornamented with a balustrade in relief are cut entire from a single block of stone. So, too, is the statue
which was found lying alongside the capital and which is believed to have belonged to the same pillar. This statue represents a man clad in adhotiand adorned with bracelets, earrings, bejewelled necklace and headdress. The hair falls in curls over the shoulders and back, and beneath it at the back fall the ends of two ribbons.It is thought that the statue representsVajrapani. The attribution to Vajrapani is indicated by the stub of avajrathunderbold in the right hand and a halo of 24 rays.The dedication of the Vajrapani pillar is also mentioned in a 5th-century inscription.
An interesting feature of the image is the halo which is pierced with twelve small holes evenly disposed around its edge. Manifestly the halo, is too small in proportion to the size of the statue, and these holes were no doubt intended for the attachment of the outer rays, which were probably fashioned out of copper gilt, the rest of the statue itself being possibly painted or gilded. This statue stood on the summit of the pillar, and is a work of the Gupta period.The statue is currently in theSanchi Archaeological Museumand is attributed to the 5th century CE.
Following the destruction of the Guptas by theAlchon Huns, and with thedecline of Buddhism in India, Buddhist artistic creation at Sanchi slowed down.
Temple 45was the last Buddhist temple built during the mid to late 9th century.Another point to be noted is that at that time the monuments were enclosed within a wall.
With the decline ofBuddhismin India, the monuments of Sanchi went out of use and fell into a state of disrepair. In 1818, General Taylor of the Bengal Cavalry recorded a visit to Sanchi. At that time the monuments were left in a relatively good condition. Although the jungle had overgrown the complex, several of the Gateways were still standing, and Sanchi, being situated on a hill, had escaped the onslaught of theMuslimconquerors who had destroyed the nearby city ofVidisha(Bhilsa) only 5 miles away.
Although the initial craftsmen for stone reliefs in Sanchi seem to have come fromGandhara, with the first reliefs being carved atSanchi Stupa No.2circa 115 BCE,the art of Sanchi thereafter developed considerably in the 1st century BCE/CE and is thought to predate the blooming of theGreco-Buddhist artofGandhara, which went on to flourish until around the 4th century CE. The art of Sanchi is thus considered as the ancestor of the didactic forms ofBuddhist artthat would follow, such as the art of Gandhara.It is also, withBharhut, the oldest.
As didactic Buddhist reliefs were adopted by Gandhara, the content evolved somewhat together with the emergence ofMahayana Buddhism, a more theistic understanding of Buddhism. First, although many of the artistic themes remained the same (such as Maya's dream, The Great Departure, Mara's attacks...), many of the stories of the previous lives of the Buddha were replaced by the even more numerous stories about theBodhisattvasof the Mahayanapantheon.Second, another important difference is the treatment of the image of the Buddha: whereas the art of Sanchi, however detailed and sophisticated, isaniconic,the art of Gandhara added illustrations of the Buddha as a man wearing Greek-style clothing to play a central role in its didactic reliefs.
The presence of Greeks at or near Sanchi at the time is known (Indo-GreekambassadorHeliodorusatVidishacirca 100 BCE, the Greek-likeforeigners illustrated at Sanchi worshiping the Great Stupa, or the Greek "Yavana" devotees who had dedicatory inscriptions made at Sanchi), but more precise details about exchanges or possible routes of transmission are elusive.
General Henry Taylor (1784–1876) who was a British officer in theThird Maratha Warof 1817–1819, was the first known Western historian to document in 1818 (in English) the existence of Sanchi Stupa. The site was in a total state of abandon. The Great Stupa was clumsily breached bySir Herbert Maddockin 1822, although he was not able to reach the center, and he then abandoned.Alexander CunninghamandFrederick Charles Maiseymade the first formal survey and excavations at Sanchi and the surrounding stupas of the region in 1851.Amateurarchaeologistsand 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 ofSir John Marshall.
19th Century Europeans were very much interested in the Stupa which was originally built by Ashoka. French sought the permission ofShahjehan Begumto take away the eastern gateway which was quite well preserved, to a museum in France. English, who had established themselves in India, majorly as a political force, were interested too in carrying it to England for a museum. They were satisfied with plaster-cast copies which were carefully prepared and the original remained at the site, part of Bhopal state. The rule of Bhopal, Shahjehan Begum and her successor Sultan Jehan Begum, provided money for the preservation of the ancient site.John Marshall, Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India from 1902 to 1928, acknowledged her contribution by dedicating his important volumes on Sanchi to Sultan Jehan. She had funded the museum that was built there. As one of the earliest and most important Buddhist architectural and cultural pieces, it has drastically transformed the understanding of early India with respect to Buddhism. It is now a marvellous example of the carefully preserved archaeological site by the Archeological Survey of India. The place of Sanchi Stupa in Indian history and culture can be gauged from the fact that Reserve Bank of India introducednew 200 Indian Rupees notes with Sanchi Stupain 2017.
Since Sanchi remained mostly intact however, only few artefacts of Sanchi can be found in Western Museum: for example,the Gupta statue of Padmapaniis at theVictoria and Albert MuseuminLondon, andone of the Yashiniscan be seen at theBritish Museum.
Today, around fifty monuments remain on the hill of Sanchi, including three main stupas and several temples. The monuments have been listed among other famous monuments in theUNESCOWorld Heritage Sitessince 1989.
The reliefs of Sanchi, especially those depicting Indian cities, have been important in trying to imagine what ancient Indian cities look like. Many modern simulations are based on the urban illustrations of Sanchi.
මේසී සහ කනිංහැම් විසින් සොයාගත් බෞද්ධ භික්ෂූන් වහන්සේලාගේ අස්ථි අවශේෂ සහ ධාතු කරඬු බෙදා සිහිවටන ලෙස එංගලන්තය වෙත රැගෙන යන ලදී.මේසීගේ පවුල විසින් මෙම වස්තූන්වික්ටෝරියා සහ ඇල්බට් කෞතුකාගාරයවෙත අලෙවි කළ අතර, ඒවා එහි දිගු කාලයක් පැවතිණි.මහාබෝධි සංගමයේමූලිකත්වයෙන් එංගලන්තය, ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සහ ඉන්දියාවේ විසූ බෞද්ධයෝ ඒවා නැවත භාරදෙන මෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටියහ. ඒ අනුවසාරිපුත්තසගමොග්ගල්ලානරහතුන් වහන්සේලාගේ ධාතූන් කිහිපයක් 1947දී ශ්‍රී ලංකාව වෙත ලබාදෙන ලද අතර, ඒවා මහජන ප්‍රදර්ශනයට විවෘත විය.ශ්‍රී ලංකාව තුළ අති විශාල ජනකායකගේ වන්දනාවට එම ධාතූන් පාත්‍ර විය. කෙසේනමුත් පසුව ඒවා ඉන්දියාව වෙත රැගෙන ගිය අතර, 1952දී මෙම ධාතූන් තැන්පත් කිරීමට "චේතියගිරි විහාරය" නමින් නව විහාරයක් තනවන ලදී.ජාතිකවාදී දෘෂ්ටිකෝණයෙන් බැලීමේ දී, මෙමඟින් ඉන්දියාව තුළ බෞද්ධ සම්ප්‍රදාය නිල වශයෙන් නැවත ස්ථාපිත කිරීම සනිටුහන් කරයි. ඇතැම් ධාතූන් බුරුමය විසින් ලබාගන්නා ලදී.
සාංචියේ, විශේෂයෙන්ම ස්තූප අංක 1, හිබ්‍රාහ්මීඅභිලේඛන විශාල සංඛ්‍යාවක් හමුවේ. ඉන් බොහෝමයක් ප්‍රදානයන් පිළිබඳ සඳහන් කුඩා සෙල්ලිපි වුවද, එහි විශාල ඓතිහාසික වැදගත්කමක් පවතියි. 1837දීජේම්ස් ප්‍රින්සෙප්විසින් එහි බොහෝ අභිලේඛන බ්‍රාහ්මී අක්ෂර ද්විත්වයකින් අවසන් වන බව හඳුනා ගත්තේ ය. එම අක්ෂර ද්විත්වය "දානං" (දානය) යැයි ප්‍රින්සෙප් සලකා ඇත. මෙය බ්‍රාහ්මී අක්ෂර කියවා තේරුම් ගැනීමට මඟපෑදී ය.
දානයන් පිළිබඳ වාර්තා විශ්ලේෂණය කිරීමේ දීඉන් බොහෝ දායකයන් ප්‍රදේශයේම වැසියන් (නගර පිළිබඳ සඳහන් නොමැති) බැව් පෙනේ. ඉන් සමහරෙක්උජ්ජයින්,වීදිශා, කුරාර, නදීනගර්, මහිසති, කුර්ඝාර, භෝගවදන් සහ කංදගීගාම් වැනි ප්‍රදේශවලින් වෙති. සාංචියෙන්යවන(ඉන්දු-ග්‍රීක)දායකයන් පිළිබඳ අභිලේඛන තුනක් හමුවී ඇති අතර, ඉන් වඩාත්ම පැහැදිළි අභිලේඛනයෙහි "සෙටපථියස යෝනස දානං" ("සෙටපථ හියෝනයන්ගේ දානය") ලෙස සඳහන් වේ. සෙටපථ නගරය මෙතෙක් හඳුනාගෙන නැත.