A Topographical Description of Sanchi

        The stupas of Sanchi are one of several groups of such monuments situated within a dozen miles of Bhilsa and known commonly as the Bhilsa Topes. One of these groups is on the hill above Sonari; another is at Satdhara; a third is at Pipaliya (Bhojpur); and a fourth at Andher. But by far the most extensive and most interesting of the series is the group at Sanchi, a village in the Diwanganj sub-division of the Bhopal State about 5½ miles S.-W. of Bhilsa. The existence of so many Buddhist edifices in the neighbourhood of Bhilsa is not due to mere chance. It is explained by the fact that near by the modern town and at the junction of the Bes and the Betwa rivers there once stood the famous and populous city of Vidisa, the capital of Eastern Malwa (Akara), and that in and around this city there grew up a flourishing community of Buddhists, who found on the summits of the neighbouring hills attractive and commanding spots on which to build their memorials and their monasteries—spots, that is to say, which were far enough removed from the turmoil and distractions of the great city, but sufficiently close to it to attract worshippers from its crowded thoroughfares. In the case of other famous Buddhists monuments, such as those at Bodh-Gaya, Sarnath and Kasia, the sites chosen for their erection were those which had been hallowed by the presence of the Buddha, and the monuments themselves were designed to commemorate some act in his life, as for example his enlightenment at Bodh-Gaya, his first sermon at Sarnath, his passing away at Kasia. But Sanchi had no such connexion with the life or acts of the Master; the place is scarcely mentioned in Buddhist literature, and the Chinese pilgrims, Fa Hien and Hiuen Thsang, who visited India between the fourth and seventh centuries of our era, though they tell us so much about other ancient centres of the Buddhist religion, have not a word to say about this one. It is a strange coincidence, therefore, that these remains should be at once the most magnificent and the most perfect examples of Buddhist architecture in India.

        The hill on which these monuments are cluster is not in any way remarkable, nor is there anything in its general aspect to distinguish it from the many other eminences which girdle it close on the west and south. It is a low hill, less than 300 feet in height, of a whale-back shape, with a saddle near the middle, in which nestles the village of Sanchi from which it takes its name. As with all the neighbouring off-shoots of the Vindhyas, its formation is of sandstone, which slopes, layer upon layer, in shelving masses down its sides, wherein the Buddhist builders of old found a quarry for their stone ready to hand and easily worked. In the varied hues of this stone and in its rugged crags there is a wonderful charm alike of form and colour, and this charm is enhanced by the wealth of jungle shrubs and trees which spring from every nook and crevice among the giant boulders. The vegetation grows free and dense on all the steeper slopes around the hill, but most luxuriantly on its southern half, in places where the high and shady cliffs afford shelter against the sun. Here the ever-green khirni tree, with its sombre foliage, is especially abundant, and here in the early spring the dhak or ‘flame of the forest,’ as it has been so happily called, sets the hill-side ablaze with its clusters of gorgeous blossoms, affording a strangely gay and dazzling setting to the grey ruins that crest the ridges above.

        The main road by which the hill is ascended, leads direct from the railway station, then passes up the rocky slope in the direction of the village of Sanchi, and bends to the right near a small pond, the embankment of which is of ancient construction. From this point the road is paved and stepped with heavy stone slabs as far as the brow of the hill; afterwards it runs south for a distance of about 80 yards and enters the enclave at its north-west corner. The whole of this road is of modern construction, having, so far as is known, been first made by Major Cole in 1883 and extensively repaired by the present writer in 1915. At the time when Vidisa was a flourishing city, the main approach came direct from the north-east, ascended the hill-side near the northern edge of the Purainia tank (Pl. XIV), crossed the Chikni Ghati, and wound round to the north of the plateau, passing about 50 yards east of the modern gateway. A side path also branched off from it to the middle of the eastern side. Of the latter a short section still exists outside the circuit wall, and two longer sections of the old main road are preserved at the Chikni Ghati and immediately below the northern wall, the roadway in each case being constructed of long slabs of stone laid transversely on the rock and measuring as much as twelve feet in length.

        The plateau on the hill top to which these roads gave access, measures over 400 yards, from N. to S. by 220 yards from E. to W., and originally sloped upwards in a gentle gradient towards the east, reaching its highest point beneath the foundations of Temple 45 (Pl. XV), whence there is a steep drop of nearly 300 feet to the plain below. How the artificial terraces into which the central part of the plateau is now divided, came to be formed, and when the retaining wall between them was erected, will be described later on. The solid stone circuit wall encircling the plateau appears to have been first constructed in the 11^th or 12^th century A.D., but was largely repaired in 1883 and again in 1914. Over the greater part of its length it is founded on the living rock, but a section of it on the eastern side is carried over the ruins of some of the late mediaeval buildings. The present entrance at the northwest corner of these wall is modern innovation due to Major Cole, the old entrance having apparently been located at a little distance towards the east, at a point where the ancient road had passed prior to the construction of the circuit wall.

        In the description which follows of the monuments on the hill-top, I shall start with the Great Stupa and the buildings immediately around it on the same terrace, dealing first with the stupas, then with the pillars, and lastly with the shrines. Afterwards, I shall conduct the visitor to Temples 40 and 8, and to the three monasteries, Nos. 36, 37 and 38 to the south of the Great Stupa; and, finally, I shall ascend the higher terrace on the east and examine the buildings numbered from 43 to 50. But before embarking on this description, it is desirable to say something about the history o this site in ancient and modern times, as well as about the artistic character of its monuments.

From: Marshall, John. A Guide to Sanchi. Calcutta: Superintendent, Government Printing, 1918, 1-6.