Sanchi

Sanchi is a town in Raisen district, Madhya Pradesh, India, best known for the Sanchi Stupa, a Buddhist monument that is among the oldest stone structures in India and a key center of Buddhist art. It lies on a hilltop about 46 kilometers northeast of Bhopal, near Vidisha.

The Great Stupa at Sanchi dates to the Mauryan period, begun by Emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE and enlarged in later centuries. The stupa comprises a hemispherical brick core encased in stone and crowned by a dome and a harmika with a parasol. Surrounding the stupa is a circumambulatory path, and the stupa precinct is protected by a stone railing.

At four cardinal points stand the elaborately carved stone gatehouses, or toranas, added roughly in the 1st century BCE to the 1st century CE. They depict Jataka tales, events from the Buddha's life, and other symbolic scenes in narrative relief.

The broader Sanchi complex includes monasteries and temples dating from the 3rd century BCE to about the 12th century CE. The site displays a long evolution of Buddhist architecture and is one of the best-preserved examples of early stone sculpture in India.

Historical excavations in the 19th and early 20th centuries, notably by Sir Alexander Cunningham and later scholars, documented the monuments. In 1989, Sanchi was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site as Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi.

Today, Sanchi remains a major pilgrimage and tourist site. The adjacent Sanchi Archaeological Museum collects sculptures and fragments from the site and is maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India.