Sanchi Stupa – A Sacred Place for Buddhist

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Sanchi Stupa – A Sacred Place for Buddhist

Posted On : Jul-29-2011 | seen (359) times | Article Word Count : 665 |

Emperor Asoka (273-236 B.C.) built stupas in Buddha's honour at many places in India. Stupas at Sanchi are the most magnificent structures of ancient India.

Emperor Asoka (273-236 B.C.) built stupas in Buddha's honour at many places in India. Stupas at Sanchi are the most magnificent structures of ancient India. UNESCO has included them as one of the heritage sites of the world. Stupas are large hemispherical domes, containing a central chamber, in which the relics of the Buddha were placed. Sanchi stupas trace the development of the Buddhist architecture and sculpture at the same location beginning from the 3rd century B.C. to the 12th century A.D.
Asoka when he was a governor married Devi, the daughter of a respected citizen of Vidisha, a town 10 km from the Sanchi hill. Prince Mahendra visited Sanchi with his mother before leaving for the island of Lanka for taking Buddhism there. Emperor Asoka had put up at Sanchi a pillar edict and a stupa containing relics of the Buddha. Addition of new stupas and expressions in stone of legends around the life of the Buddha and the monastic activities at the Sanchi hill continued under several dynasties for over fifteen hundred years. Also, the Brahmi script could be deciphered from the similarities in inscriptions carved at different places in the main stupa.
Sanchi stupas are noteworthy for their gateways as they contain ornamented depiction of incidents from the life of the Buddha and his previous incarnations as Bodhisattvas described in Jataka tales. Sculptors belonging to different times tried to depict the same story by repeating figures. The Buddha has been shown symbolically in the form of tree or through other inanimate figures. One of the sects of Buddhism opposed depiction of the Buddha by a human figure.
The top of the Asoka pillar, which comprises of four lions, has been kept in the museum maintained by the Department of Archaeology. The size and the weight of the pillar point to advanced construction technology that was existent at the time of Asoka. It must have been an incredible feat of engineering to bring the stone for carving the pillar from the mine to Sanchi and installing it up the hill.
Jataka Tales:
Jataka tales as do Aesop's fables teach generosity and self-abnegation based on previous lives of the Buddha as Bodhisattvas. As a Bodhisattva he took births as man, animal or bird. It is believed that the Buddha accumulated virtue by good deeds he did as Bodhisattvas and had attained merit for achieving nirvana in his last birth when he was born as the prince Siddhartha.
Six-tusked Elephant Jataka
The Great Monkey Jataka
The Vessantra Jataka
The Sama Jataka
Six-tusked Elephant Jataka:
In one of his previous births the Bodhisattva was born as a six-tusked elephant. He lived in the Himalayas with his two female elephant wives named Chulasubhudha and Mahasubhudha . Chulsubhudha despised her husband as she thought that he loved his other wife more than her. She prayed that in her next life she may be born a beautiful girl and have the good fortune of marrying the king of Varanasi. Her deep jealousy and the desire to take revenge from her husband resulted in her death. As she had wished, she was born in her next birth a beautiful girl and became the wife of the king of Varanasi. She feinted illness and pleaded her husband to ask Sonuttar, the king's archer, to bring for her the tusks of the six-tusked elephant. The hunter wounded the six-tusked elephant with arrows and tried to pull out his tusks. The elephant took pity on the hunter and helped him in pulling out his tusks. When the tusks were given to the queen she repented her wanton act and died out of grief.
Bus booking is fairly easy nowadays on internet. If you plan early you’ll get budget bus tickets online. For online bus tickets booking you can check different OTA’s website. Search best bus service, compare and buy cheap tickets.

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<h1>Sanchi Stupa – A Sacred Place for Buddhist</h1> Author: <a href='http://www.articleseen.com/profile_wejai.aspx'>wejai</a> Emperor Asoka (273-236 B.C.) built stupas in Buddha's honour at many places in India. Stupas at Sanchi are the most magnificent structures of ancient India. UNESCO has included them as one of the heritage sites of the world. Stupas are large hemispherical domes, containing a central chamber, in which the relics of the Buddha were placed. Sanchi stupas trace the development of the Buddhist architecture and sculpture at the same location beginning from the 3rd century B.C. to the 12th century A.D.
Asoka when he was a governor married Devi, the daughter of a respected citizen of Vidisha, a town 10 km from the Sanchi hill. Prince Mahendra visited Sanchi with his mother before leaving for the island of Lanka for taking Buddhism there. Emperor Asoka had put up at Sanchi a pillar edict and a stupa containing relics of the Buddha. Addition of new stupas and expressions in stone of legends around the life of the Buddha and the monastic activities at the Sanchi hill continued under several dynasties for over fifteen hundred years. Also, the Brahmi script could be deciphered from the similarities in inscriptions carved at different places in the main stupa.
Sanchi stupas are noteworthy for their gateways as they contain ornamented depiction of incidents from the life of the Buddha and his previous incarnations as Bodhisattvas described in Jataka tales. Sculptors belonging to different times tried to depict the same story by repeating figures. The Buddha has been shown symbolically in the form of tree or through other inanimate figures. One of the sects of Buddhism opposed depiction of the Buddha by a human figure. 
The top of the Asoka pillar, which comprises of four lions, has been kept in the museum maintained by the Department of Archaeology. The size and the weight of the pillar point to advanced construction technology that was existent at the time of Asoka. It must have been an incredible feat of engineering to bring the stone for carving the pillar from the mine to Sanchi and installing it up the hill.
Jataka Tales:
Jataka tales as do Aesop's fables teach generosity and self-abnegation based on previous lives of the Buddha as Bodhisattvas. As a Bodhisattva he took births as man, animal or bird. It is believed that the Buddha accumulated virtue by good deeds he did as Bodhisattvas and had attained merit for achieving nirvana in his last birth when he was born as the prince Siddhartha.
Six-tusked Elephant Jataka
The Great Monkey Jataka
The Vessantra Jataka
The Sama Jataka
Six-tusked Elephant Jataka:
In one of his previous births the Bodhisattva was born as a six-tusked elephant. He lived in the Himalayas with his two female elephant wives named Chulasubhudha and Mahasubhudha . Chulsubhudha despised her husband as she thought that he loved his other wife more than her. She prayed that in her next life she may be born a beautiful girl and have the good fortune of marrying the king of Varanasi. Her deep jealousy and the desire to take revenge from her husband resulted in her death. As she had wished, she was born in her next birth a beautiful girl and became the wife of the king of Varanasi. She feinted illness and pleaded her husband to ask Sonuttar, the king's archer, to bring for her the tusks of the six-tusked elephant. The hunter wounded the six-tusked elephant with arrows and tried to pull out his tusks. The elephant took pity on the hunter and helped him in pulling out his tusks. When the tusks were given to the queen she repented her wanton act and died out of grief.
Bus booking is fairly easy nowadays on internet. If you plan early you’ll get budget bus tickets online. For online bus tickets booking you can check different OTA’s website. Search best bus service, compare and buy cheap tickets.
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