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{{Short description|Buddhist complex in Madhya Pradesh, India}}
{{for|the crude oil tanker|Sanchi (tanker)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}}
{{Infobox building
| image            = East Gateway - Stupa 1 - Sanchi Hill 2013-02-21 4398.JPG
| image_caption    = The Great Stupa at Sanchi, Raisen district, MP.
| pushpin_map      = India#India Madhya Pradesh#South Asia
| pushpin_relief   = yes
| pushpin_map_caption = Sanchi Stupa
| map_dot_label    = Sanchi Stupa
| building_type    = [[Stupa]] and surrounding buildings
| location         = [[Sanchi Town]], [[Raisen district]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[India]]
| location_town    = [[Sanchi]], [[Raisen district]]
| location_country = {{flag|India}}
| architectural_style = [[Buddhist architecture|Buddhist]], Mauryan
| start_date       = 3rd century BCE
| inauguration_date = 
| demolition_date  = 
| height           = {{convert|16.46|m|ft|abbr=on}} (dome of the Great Stupa)
| diameter         = {{convert|36.6|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} (dome of the Great Stupa)
| other_dimensions = 
| embedded         = {{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site
  |child = yes
  |Official_name = Buddhist Monument at Sanchi
  |ID = 524
  |Year = 1989
  |Criteria = Cultural: i, ii, iii, iv, vi
}}
}}
{{coord|23.479223|77.739683|display=title}}
'''Sanchi Stupa''' is a [[Buddhist art|Buddhist complex]], famous for its Great Stupa, on a hilltop at [[Sanchi Town]] in [[Raisen District]] of the [[States and territories of India|State]] of [[Madhya Pradesh]], India. It is located, about 23 kilometers from [[Raisen|Raisen town]], district headquarter and {{convert|46|km}} north-east of [[Bhopal]], capital of [[Madhya Pradesh]].

The Great [[Stupa]] at Sanchi is one of the oldest stone structures in India, and an important monument to the historical [[architecture of India]].<ref>[http://www.frontline.in/archives.htm Buddhist Art] Frontline Magazine 13–26 May 1989</ref> It was originally commissioned by the [[Maurya Empire|Mauryan]] emperor [[Ashoka the Great|Ashoka]] in the 3rd century BCE. Its nucleus was a simple hemispherical brick structure built over the relics of the [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]]. It was crowned by the [[Chatra (umbrella)|chatra]], 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 nearby [[Vidisha]]. Sanchi was also her birthplace as well as the venue of her and Ashoka's wedding. In the 1st century BCE, four elaborately carved [[torana]]s (ornamental gateways) and a balustrade encircling the entire structure were added. The stupa at Sanchi built during the Mauryan period was made of bricks. The composite flourished until the 11th century.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}

Sanchi is the center of a region with a number of stupas, all within a few miles of Sanchi, including [[Satdhara]] (9&nbsp;km to the W of Sanchi, 40 stupas, the [[Relics of Sariputra and Mahamoggallana]], now enshrined in the new Vihara, were unearthed there), [[Bhojpur Stupas|Bhojpur]] (also called Morel Khurd, a fortified hilltop with 60 stupas) and [[Andher Stupas|Andher]] (respectively 11&nbsp;km and 17&nbsp;km SE of Sanchi), as well as [[Sonari Stupa|Sonari]] (10&nbsp;km SW of Sanchi).<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=IUbUDAAAQBAJ&q=buddhist+landscape Buddhist Landscapes in Central India: Sanchi Hill and Archaeologies of Religious and Social Change, c. Third Century BC to Fifth Century AD, Julia Shaw, Routledge, 12 Aug 2016]</ref><ref name="BCCI">Buddhist Circuit in Central India: Sanchi, Satdhara, Sonari, Andher, Travel ... [https://books.google.com/books?id=TOrKExVXXpkC&pg=PT3 p. 31]</ref> Further south, about 100&nbsp;km away, is [[Saru Maru]]. [[Bharhut]] is 300&nbsp;km to the northeast.

Sanchi Stupa is depicted on the reverse side of the [[Indian 200-rupee note|Indian currency note of {{INR}}200]] to signify its importance to Indian cultural heritage.<ref>[https://www.financialexpress.com/photos/business-gallery/821450/rs-50-rs-200-rs-500-and-rs-2000-notes-images-here-are-the-new-currency-notes-released-by-rbi/lite/] Rs 50, Rs 200, Rs 500 and Rs 2000 notes images: Here are the new currency notes released by RBI</ref>

==Overview==
The monuments at Sanchi today comprise a series of Buddhist monuments starting from the [[Maurya Empire|Mauryan Empire]] period (3rd century BCE), continuing with the [[Gupta Empire]] period (5th century CE), and ending around the 12th century CE.<ref name="BC">{{cite book |title=Buddhist Circuit in Central India: Sanchi, Satdhara, Sonari, Andher, Travel Guide |date=2010 |publisher=Goodearth Publications |isbn=9789380262055 |page=12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TOrKExVXXpkC&pg=PT12}}</ref> It is probably the best preserved group of Buddhist monuments in India.<ref name="BC" /> The oldest, and also the largest monument, the Great Stupa also called Stupa No. 1, initially built under the Mauryans, and adorned with one of the [[Pillars of Ashoka]].<ref name="BC" /> During the following centuries, especially under the [[Shunga Empire|Shungas]] and the [[Satavahana Empire|Satavahanas]], the Great Stupa was enlarged and decorated with gates and railings, and smaller stupas were also built in the vicinity, especially [[Sanchi Stupa No.2|Stupa No.2]], and Stupa No.3.<ref name="BC" />

Simultaneously, various temple structures were also built, down to the [[Gupta Empire]] period and later. Altogether, Sanchi encompasses most of the evolutions of [[ancient Indian architecture]] and ancient [[Buddhist architecture]] in India, from the early stages of Buddhism and its first artistic expression, to the [[Decline of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent|decline of the religion in the subcontinent]].<ref name="BC" /><gallery heights="175" mode="packed">
File:General view of the Stupas at Sanchi.jpg|''General view of the Stupas at Sanchi'' by [[Frederick Charles Maisey|F.C. Maisey]], 1851 (The Great Stupa on top of the hill, and Stupa 2 at the forefront)
File:रायसेनमण्डलम्.jpg|The Great Stupa (Stupa No.1), started in the 3rd century BCE
File:Sanchi Stupa No2.jpg|Stupa No.2
File:003 Front View (33709016166).jpg|Stupa No.3
File:Temple 17 - Buddhist Monument - Sanchi Hill 2013-02-21 4494.JPG|Buddhist Temple, No.17
</gallery>{{Clear}}

== Mauryan Period (3rd century BCE)==
[[File:Sanchi pillar of Ashoka.jpg|thumb|upright|left|The Ashoka pillar at Sanchi.]]
[[File:Plan of Sanchi.jpg|thumb|300px|Plan of the monuments of the hill of Sanchi, numbered 1 to 50.]]
The "Great Stupa" at Sanchi is the oldest structure and was originally commissioned by the emperor [[Ashoka]] the Great of the [[Maurya Empire]] in the 3rd century BCE.<ref name="Alī Jāvīd p.50">World Heritage Monuments and Related Edifices in India, Volume 1 p. 50 by Alī Jāvīd, Tabassum Javeed, Algora Publishing, New York [https://books.google.com/books?id=fg-lGID3WpQC&pg=PA50]</ref> Its nucleus was a hemispherical brick structure built over the [[Śarīra|sacred relics of the Buddha]],<ref name="Alī Jāvīd p.50" /> with a raised terrace encompassing its base, and a railing and stone umbrella on the summit, the [[Chatra (umbrella)|chatra]], a parasol-like structure symbolizing high rank.<ref name="Marshall 31">Marshall, "A Guide to Sanchi" [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 p. 31]</ref><ref>The [[Butkara Stupa]] is an example of such a hemispherical stupa structure from the Maurya period, that was extensively documented through archaeological work</ref> The original Stupa only had about half the diameter of today's stupa, which is the result of enlargement by the [[Shungas]]. It was covered in brick, in contrast to the stones that now cover it.<ref name="Marshall 31" />

According to one version of the [[Mahavamsa]], the Buddhist chronicle of [[Sri Lanka]], Ashoka was closely connected to the region of Sanchi. When he was heir-apparent and was journeying as Viceroy to [[Ujjain]], he is said to have halted at [[Vidisha]] (10 kilometers from Sanchi), and there married the daughter of a local banker. She was called [[Devi (wife of Ashoka)|Devi]] and later gave Ashoka two sons, Ujjeniya and [[Mahinda (Buddhist monk)|Mahendra]], and a daughter [[Sanghamitta]]. 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.<ref>Marshall, "A Guide to Sanchi" [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 p. 8ff] Public Domain text</ref>

=== Ashoka pillar ===
{{see also|Pillars of Ashoka}}
{{multiple image|perrow=3|total_width=300|caption_align=center
| align    = right
| direction =horizontal
| header=
| image1   = Sanchi capital of Ashoka.jpg
| image2   = Sanchi Wheel reconstruction by Percy Brown.jpg
| image3   = Adoration of the pillar of Ashoka Sanchi Stupa 3 South Gateway Right pillar top panel.jpg
| footer=The [[capital (architecture)|capital]] of the Sanchi pillar of [[Ashoka]], as discovered (left), and simulation of original appearance by [[Percy Brown (art historian)|Percy Brown]] (center).<ref>Reconstitution with four lions and crowning wheel by Percy Brown: [[:File:Sanchi Great Stupa diagram.jpg|Diagram of Sanchi Great Stupa]]</ref> It is very similar to the [[Lion Capital of Ashoka]] at [[Sarnath]], except for the [[abacus (architecture)|abacus]], here adorned with [[flame palmette]]s and facing [[geese]], 250 BCE. [[Sanchi Archaeological Museum]].<ref name="p.25-28 Ashoka pillar">Described in Marshall [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.532798 pp. 25-28 Ashoka pillar].</ref> To the right: depiction of the four lions capital surmounted by a [[Wheel of Law]] at Sanchi, [[Satavahana]] period, 1st century CE, South gateway of [[stupa]] 3.<ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopaedia Indica: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh |date=1996 |publisher=Anmol Publications |isbn=978-81-7041-859-7 |page=783 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0AcwAQAAIAAJ |language=en|quote=It may be mentioned that the motif of lions carrying a wheel occurs at Sanchis which might be a representation of the Sarnath's Asokan pillar capital .}}</ref> 
}}
A pillar of finely polished sandstone, one of the [[Pillars of Ashoka]], was also erected on the side of the main [[Torana]] gateway. The bottom part of the pillar still stands. The upper parts of the pillar are at the nearby [[Sanchi Archaeological Museum]]. The capital consists in four lions, which probably supported a [[Wheel of Law]],<ref name=":1">Buddhist Architecture by Huu Phuoc Le [https://books.google.com/books?id=9jb364g4BvoC&pg=PA155 p. 155]</ref> as also suggested [[:File:Carving of Ashokan pillar at Sanchi.jpg|by later illustrations among the Sanchi reliefs]]. The pillar has an Ashokan inscription ([[List of Edicts of Ashoka|Schism Edict]])<ref name=":1"/> and an inscription in the ornamental [[Sankha Lipi]] from the Gupta period.<ref name="Alī Jāvīd p.50" /> The Ashokan inscription is engraved in early [[Brahmi]] characters. It is unfortunately much damaged, but the commands it contains appear to be the same as those recorded in the [[Sarnath]] and [[Kausambi]] edicts, which together form the three known instances of Ashoka's "Schism Edict". It relates to the penalties for schism in the Buddhist sangha:

{{blockquote|...&nbsp;the path is prescribed both for the monks and for the nuns. As long as (my) sons and great-grandsons (shall reign; and) as long as the Moon and the Sun (shall endure), the monk or nun who shall cause divisions in the [[Sangha]], shall be compelled to put on white robes and to reside apart. For what is my desire? That the Sangha may be united and may long endure.|Edict of [[Ashoka]] on the Sanchi pillar.<ref>John Marshall, "A Guide to Sanchi" [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 p. 93] Public Domain text</ref>}}

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 an [[abacus (architecture)|abacus]] and 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 four [[flame palmette]] designs separated one from the other by pairs of [[geese]], 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.<ref name="Marshall 90">Marshall, "A Guide to Sanchi" [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 p. 90ff] Public Domain text</ref>

The [[sandstone]] out of which the pillar is carved came from the quarries of [[Chunar]] several 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.<ref name="Marshall 90" />

===Temple 40===
{{multiple image
| align    = right
| image1   = Sanchi Temple 40.jpg
| width1   = 215
| caption1 = Sanchi Temple 40 was a 3rd-century BCE temple, one of the first known in India, constructed around the same time as the core of the Great Stupa.
| image2   = IA Temple 40 Sanchi.jpg
| width2   = 160
| caption2 = Conjectural reconstruction of the original timber-built Temple 40, burnt down in the 2nd century BCE.
}}
Another structure which has been dated, at least partially, to the 3rd century BCE, is the so-called [[:Commons:category:Sanchi Temple 40|Temple 40]], one of the first instances of free-standing temples in India.<ref name="BA147">Buddhist Architecture, Lee Huu Phuoc, Grafikol 2009, p. 147</ref> 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 by [[Bindusara]], the father of Ashoka.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Upinder |title=The Idea of Ancient India: Essays on Religion, Politics, and Archaeology |date=2016 |publisher=SAGE Publications India |isbn=9789351506454 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zmAlDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT67 |language=ar}}</ref> 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 an [[apsidal]] hall, probably made of timber. It was burnt down sometime in the 2nd century BCE.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Abram |first1=David |last2=(Firm) |first2=Rough Guides |title=The Rough Guide to India |date=2003 |publisher=Rough Guides |isbn=9781843530893 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kAMik_6LbwUC&pg=PA393}}</ref><ref name="Guide to Sanchi">{{cite book |last1=Marshall |first1=John |title=Guide to Sanchi |date=1955 |url=https://archive.org/stream/in.gov.ignca.4365/4365#page/n153/mode/2up}}</ref> 

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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chakrabarty |first1=Dilip K. |title=India: An Archaeological History: Palaeolithic Beginnings to Early Historic Foundations |date=2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199088140 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wPQtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT424}}</ref><ref name="Guide to Sanchi"/>

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0 auto;"  align="center"  colspan="2" cellpadding="3" style="font-size: 80%; width: 100%;"
|+ style="background:#F4A460; font-size: 100%; text-align:center"| Maurya structures and decorations at Sanchi<br />(3rd century BCE)
|-
|align="center" style="font-size: 100%; width: 1%;"|[[File:Sanchi Great Stupa Mauryan configuration.jpg|250px]]<br />Approximate reconstitution of the Great Stupa with its [[pillar of Ashoka]], under the [[Mauryan Empire|Mauryas]] {{Circa|260 BCE}}.
|
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180px">
File:Ashokan Pillar - Stupa 1 - Sanchi Hill 2013-02-21 4361.JPG|Remains of the [[Pillars of Ashoka|Ashokan Pillar]] in polished stone (right of the Southern Gateway), with its Edict.
File:Minor Pillar Edict of Ashoka at Sanchi.jpg|Sanchi [[Minor Pillar Edicts|Minor Pillar Edict]] of [[Ashoka]], in-situ (detail of the previous image).
File:Ashoka pillar remains near Southern Gateway Stupa 1 Sanchi.jpg|Remains of the shaft of the pillar of Ashoka, under a shed near the Southern Gateway.
File:Sanchi capital right side view.jpg|Side view of the capital. [[Sanchi Archaeological Museum]].<ref name="p.25-28 Ashoka pillar"/>
</gallery>
|}

== Shunga period (2nd century BCE)==
On the basis of [[Ashokavadana]], 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 emperor [[Pushyamitra Shunga]] who overtook the [[Maurya Empire|Mauryan Empire]] as an army general. It has been suggested that [[Pushyamitra Shunga|Pushyamitra]] may have destroyed the original stupa, and his son [[Agnimitra]] rebuilt it.<ref>"Who was responsible for the wanton destruction of the original brick stupa of [[Ashoka]] and when precisely the great work of reconstruction was carried out is not known, but it seems probable that the author of the former was [[Pushyamitra Shunga|Pushyamitra]], the first of the [[Shunga Empire|Shunga]] kings (184-148 BC), who was notorious for his hostility to Buddhism, and that the restoration was affected by [[Agnimitra]] or his immediate successor." in John Marshall, ''A Guide to Sanchi,'' p. 38. Calcutta: Superintendent, Government Printing (1918).</ref> The original brick stupa was covered with stone during the Shunga period.

Given the rather decentralized and fragmentary nature of the [[Shunga Empire|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 the dedications at Sanchi were private or collective, rather than the result of royal patronage.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=Julia |title=Buddhist Landscapes in Central India: Sanchi Hill and Archaeologies of Religious and Social Change, c. Third Century BC to Fifth Century AD |date=12 August 2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-315-43263-2 |page=58 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IUbUDAAAQBAJ&pg=PR58 |language=en|quote="It is inaccurate to refer to the post-Mauryan monuments at Sanchi as Sunga. Not only was Pusyamitra reputedly animical to Buddhism, but most of the donative inscriptions during this period attest to predominantly collective and nonroyal modes of sponsorship."}}</ref>

The style of the Shunga period decorations at Sanchi bear a close similarity to those of [[Bharhut]], as well as the peripheral balustrades at the [[Mahabodhi Temple]] in [[Bodh Gaya]].
[[File:Sanchi Great Stupa under the Sungas.jpg|thumb|300px|The Great Stupa under the [[Sungas]]. The Sungas nearly doubled the diameter of the initial stupa, encasing it in stone, and built a [[balustrade]] and a [[guard rail|railing]] around it.]]

=== Great Stupa (No 1) ===

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 the [[dharma]], the Wheel of the Law. The dome was set on a high circular drum meant for [[circumambulation]], 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,<ref name="Shaw 88" /> or 175–125 BCE.<ref name="HP 149" /> 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.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Marshall|first1=John|title=A guide to Sanchi|date=1936|publisher=Eastern Book House|location=Patna|isbn=81-85204-32-2|page=36}}</ref> Some reliefs are visible on the stairway balustrade, but they are probably slightly later than those at Stupa No2,<ref name="Allen" /> and are dated to 125–100 BCE.<ref name="HP 149">''Buddhist Architecture'' Huu Phuoc Le, Grafikol, 2010 [https://books.google.com/books?id=9jb364g4BvoC&pg=PA149 p. 149]</ref> 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 of [[Sanchi Stupa No.2]].<ref name="HP 149" />

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0 auto;"  align="center"  colspan="2" cellpadding="3" style="font-size: 80%; width: 100%;"
|-
| colspan=2 style="background:#CD853F; font-size: 100%; text-align:center"| '''Great Stupa (No1). Shunga period structures and decorations<br />(2nd century BCE)'''
|-
| style="background:#DEB887; font-size: 100%; width: 1%; text-align: center"|[[File:Great Sanchi Stupa Side view.jpg|200px]]<br />Great Stupa<br />(Stupa expansion and balustrades only are Shunga).<br />Undecorated ground railings dated to approximately 150 BCE.<ref name="Shaw 88" /> Some reliefs on the stairway balustrade.
|
<gallery>
File:Interiors of Stupa 1.JPG|Shunga balustrade and staircase.
File:Great Sanchi Stup masonry work.jpg|Shunga stonework.
File:Donation engravings on Vedika, Sanchi.jpg|Shunga vedika (railing) with inscriptions.
File:Great Sanchi Stupa Gallery (3).jpg|Deambulatory pathway.
File:Stupa 1, Sanchi 03.jpg|Summit railing and umbrellas.
</gallery><br />
'''Stairway balustrade reliefs'''<br />
<gallery mode="packed" heights="70px">
Balustrade flame palmette Sanchi Stupa No1.jpg|[[Flame palmette]].
Balustrade flame palmette and lotus Sanchi Stupa No1.jpg|Flame palmette and lotus.
Balustrade peacock Sanchi Stupa No1.jpg|[[Peacock]].
File:Sanchi Stupa 1 Ballustrade Centaur.jpg|Woman riding a [[Centaur]].
File:Sanchi Stupa 1 Ballustrade Lotus.jpg|Lotus.
File:Sanchi Stupa 1 Ballustrade half lotus.jpg|Half lotus.
File:Sanchi Stupa 1 Ballustrade lion.jpg|Lion.
File:Sanchi Stupa 1 Ballustrade elephant.jpg|Elephant.
File:Sanchi Stupa 1 Ballustrade Elephant with branch.jpg|Elephant with branch.
Balustrade floral motif Sanchi Stupa No1.jpg|Floral motif.
</gallery>
|}

=== Stupa No. 2: the first Buddhist reliefs ===

{{main|Sanchi Stupa No. 2}}
[[File:Sanchi Stupa 2 man on horse.jpg|thumb|left|Mason's marks in [[Kharoshti]] indicate that craftsmen from the north-west were responsible for foreign reliefs of Stupa No. 2.<ref name="AG" /> This medallion was made circa 115 BCE.<ref name="Shaw 90" />]]
The stupas which seem to have been commissioned during the rule of the Shungas are the Second and then the Third [[stupa]]s (but not the highly decorated gateways, which are from the following [[Satavahana]] period, 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,<ref name="Shaw 90">Buddhist Landscapes in Central India: Sanchi Hill and Archaeologies of Religious and Social Change, C. Third Century BC to Fifth Century AD, Julia Shaw, Left Coast Press, 2013 [https://books.google.com/books?id=jzkyBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA90 p. 90]</ref> slightly before the reliefs of [[Bharhut]] for the earliest, with some reworks down to the 1st century CE.<ref name="Shaw 88">Buddhist Landscapes in Central India: Sanchi Hill and Archaeologies of Religious and Social Change, C. Third Century BC to Fifth Century AD, Julia Shaw, Left Coast Press, 2013 [https://books.google.com/books?id=jzkyBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA88 p. 88ff]</ref><ref name="Shaw 90" />

[[File:Sunga railings detail.jpg|thumb|Sunga period railings were initially blank (left: Great Stupa), and only started to be decorated circa 115 BCE with [[Sanchi Stupa No.2|Stupa No.2]] (right).<ref name="Walters" /><ref name="Bell 15" />]]
[[Sanchi Stupa No.2|Stupa No. 2]] was established later than the Great Stupa, but it is probably displaying the earliest architectural ornaments.<ref name="Allen">Ornament in Indian Architecture Margaret Prosser Allen, University of Delaware Press, 1991 [https://books.google.com/books?id=vyXxEX5PQH8C&pg=PA18 p. 18]</ref> 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.<ref>Buddhist Architecture, Huu Phuoc Le, Grafikol, 2010 [https://books.google.com/books?id=9jb364g4BvoC&pg=PA149 p. 149]</ref>

The decorations of Stupa No. 2 have been called "the oldest extensive stupa decoration in existence",<ref name="Walters">"The railing of Sanchi Stupa No.2, which represents the oldest extensive stupa decoration in existence, (and) dates from about the second century B.C.E." Constituting Communities: Theravada Buddhism and the Religious Cultures of South and Southeast Asia, John Clifford Holt, Jacob N. Kinnard, Jonathan S. Walters, SUNY Press, 2012 [https://books.google.com/books?id=PnnG8sclrdYC&pg=PA197 p. 197]</ref> and this Stupa is considered as the birthplace of [[Jataka]] illustrations.<ref name="Bell 15">Didactic Narration: Jataka Iconography in Dunhuang with a Catalogue of Jataka Representations in China, Alexander Peter Bell, LIT Verlag Münster, 2000 [https://books.google.com/books?id=77hHrXX4COgC&pg=PA15 p. 15ff]</ref> The reliefs at Stupa No.2 bear mason marks in [[Kharoshthi]], as opposed to the local [[Brahmi]] script.<ref name="AG" /> This seems to imply that foreign workers from the north-west (from the region of [[Gandhara]], where [[Kharoshthi]] was the current script) were responsible for the motifs and figures that can be found on the railings of the stupa.<ref name="AG">An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology, by [[Amalananda Ghosh]], BRILL [https://books.google.com/books?id=Wba-EZhZcfgC&pg=PA295 p. 295]</ref> Foreigners from Gandhara are otherwise known to have visited the region around the same time: in 115 BCE, the embassy of [[Heliodurus|Heliodorus]] from [[Indo-Greek]] king [[Antialkidas]] to the court of the [[Sungas]] king [[Bhagabhadra]] in nearby [[Vidisha]] is recorded, in which Heliodorus established the [[Heliodorus pillar]] in a dedication to [[Vāsudeva]]. This would indicate that relations had improved at that time, and that people traveled between the two realms.<ref>Ancient Indian History and Civilization, Sailendra Nath Sen, New Age International, 1999 [https://books.google.com/books?id=Wk4_ICH_g1EC&pg=PA170 p. 170]</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0 auto;"  align="center"  colspan="2" cellpadding="3" style="font-size: 80%; width: 100%;"
|-
|+ style="background:#CD853F; font-size: 100%; text-align: center"| [[Sanchi Stupa No.2|Stupa No. 2]]. Shunga structures and decorations<br />(end of 2nd century BCE)
|-
| style="background:#DEB887; text-align:center ; width: 10%;"  |[[File:Sanchi Stupa No2.jpg|200px]]<br />Stupa No. 2<br />Shunga period, but mason's marks in [[Kharoshti]] point to craftsmen from the north-west (region of [[Gandhara]]) for the earliest reliefs (circa 115 BCE).<ref name="AG" /><ref name="Shaw 90"/><ref name="Shaw 88"/>
|
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Sanchi Stupa 2 man on horse.jpg|Foreigner on a horse. The medallions are dated circa 115 BCE.<ref name="Shaw 90" />
File:Lakshmi Sanchi Stupa 2.jpg|[[Lakshmi]] with lotus and two child attendants, probably derived from [[:File:Venus with two cupids 2.jpg|similar images of Venus]]<ref>An Indian Statuette From Pompeii, Mirella Levi D'Ancona, in Artibus Asiae, Vol. 13, No. 3 (1950) [https://ja.scribd.com/document/260301968/An-Indian-Statuette-From-Pompeii p. 171]</ref>
Flying griffin Sanchi Stupa 2.jpg|[[Griffin]] with [[Brahmi script]] inscription.
Female riding a Centaur Sanchi Stupa 2.jpg|Female riding a [[Centaur]].
File:Lotus within beads and reels motif Stupa No2 Sanchi.jpg|Lotus within [[beads and reels]] motif.
</gallery>
|}

=== Stupa No. 3 ===

Stupa No. 3 was built during the time of the Shungas, who also built the railing around it as well as the staircase. The [[Relics 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.<ref>Marshall [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 p. 81]</ref>

The reliefs on the railings are said to be slightly later than those of Stupa No. 2.<ref name="HP 149" />

The single torana gateway oriented to the south is not Shunga, and was built later under the [[Satavahanas]], probably circa 50 BCE.<ref name="HP 149" />

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 80%; width: 100%;"
|-
|+ style="background:#CD853F; font-size: 100%; text-align: center"|Stupa No. 3. Shunga structures and decorations<br />(2nd century BCE)
|-
| style="background:#DEB887; text-align:center"|[[File:Stupa 3 - Sanchi Hill 2013-02-21 4268.JPG|200px]]<br />Stupa No. 3<br />(Stupa and balustrades only are Shunga).
|
<gallery>
File:005 Stairway Railing (33364948500).jpg|Stairway and railing.
File:006 Floral Design (33749716585).jpg|Lotus medallions.
File:007 Floral Design (33620496811).jpg|Floral designs.
File:Post relief Stupa 3 Sanchi.jpg|Post relief.<ref>Marshall [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 p. 82]</ref>
File:Sanchi Stupa No 3 relics.jpg|[[Relics of Sariputra and Mahamoggallana]].
</gallery>
|}

=== Sunga Pillar ===
[[File:Sanchi pillar 25 with own capital.jpg|thumb|upright|Sunga pillar No25 with own capital on the side.]]
Pillar 25 at Sanchi is also attributed to the Sungas, in the 2nd–1st century BCE, and is considered as similar in design to the [[Heliodorus pillar]], locally called ''Kham Baba'' pillar, dedicated by [[Heliodurus|Heliodorus]], the ambassador to the [[Indo-Greek]] king [[Antialkidas]], in nearby [[Vidisha]] {{Circa|100 BCE}}.<ref name="Marshall 95">Marshall, "A Guide to Sanchi" [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 p. 95 Pillar 25]. Public Domain text</ref> 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&nbsp;ft, its diameter at the base 1&nbsp;ft. 4 in. Up to a height of 4&nbsp;ft. 6 in. the shaft is [[octagonal]]; 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 the [[arris]]es of the [[octagon]]. 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-shaped [[Persepolitan]] type, with [[lotus flower|lotus]] leaves falling over the shoulder of the bell. Above this is a circular cable necking, then a second circular necking relieved by a [[bead]] and lozenge pattern, and, finally, a deep square [[abacus]] adorned with a [[Guard rail|railing]] in relief. The crowning feature, probably a lion, has disappeared.<ref name="Marshall 95" />

== Satavahana period (1st century BCE – 1st century CE)==
{{multiple image
| align    = left
| caption_align = center
| direction =horizontal
| header=Satavahana gateways (from 50 - 0 BCE)
| total_width=400
| image1   = South Gateway - Rear Side - Stupa 1 - Sanchi Hill 2013-02-21 4383 with arrow.jpg
| caption1 = The southern gateway of the Great Stupa (Stupa 1) at Sanchi was, according to an inscription (see arrow), donated under the rule of "King Satakarni", probably [[Satakarni II]].<ref name="EP169">{{cite book |last1=Alcock |first1=Susan E. |last2=Alcock |first2=John H. D'Arms Collegiate Professor of Classical Archaeology and Classics and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor Susan E. |last3=D'Altroy |first3=Terence N. |last4=Morrison |first4=Kathleen D. |last5=Sinopoli |first5=Carla M. |title=Empires: Perspectives from Archaeology and History |date=2001 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521770200 |page=169 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MBuPx1rdGYIC&pg=PA169}}</ref>
| image2   = Siri-Satakani inscription Sanchi Stupa 1 Southern Gateway Rear of top architrave.jpg
| caption2 = The inscription appears on the relief of a stupa at the center of the top architrave, at the rear. It is written in three lines in early [[Brahmi script]] over the dome of the stupa in this relief.<ref name="p.48">John Marshall, "A guide to Sanchi", [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 p. 48]</ref><br>Dated circa 50 BCE- 0 CE.
| footer=
}}
The [[Satavahana Empire]] under [[Satakarni II]] conquered eastern [[Malwa]] from the [[Shunga Empire|Shungas]].<ref name="IH251">{{cite book |title=Indian History |publisher=Tata McGraw-Hill Education |isbn=9781259063237 |page=251 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ORnlAAAAQBAJ&pg=SL1-PA251}}</ref> 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 original [[Mauryan Empire]] and [[Sunga]] [[stupa]]s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jain |first1=Kailash Chand |title=Malwa Through The Ages |date=1972 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=9788120808249 |page=154 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_3O7q7cU7k0C&pg=PA154}}</ref> From the 1st century BCE, the highly decorated gateways were built. The balustrade and the gateways were also colored.<ref name="Alī Jāvīd p.50" /> Later gateways/toranas are generally dated to the 1st century CE.<ref name="Allen"/>

The ''[[:File:Siri-Satakani inscription Sanchi Stupa 1 Southern Gateway Rear of top architrave.jpg|Siri-Satakani inscription]]'' in the [[Brahmi script]] records the gift of one of the top [[architrave]]s of the Southern Gateway by the artisans of the Satavahana king [[Satakarni II]]:<ref name="EP169">{{cite book |last1=Alcock |first1=Susan E. |last2=Alcock |first2=John H. D'Arms Collegiate Professor of Classical Archaeology and Classics and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor Susan E. |last3=D'Altroy |first3=Terence N. |last4=Morrison |first4=Kathleen D. |last5=Sinopoli |first5=Carla M. |title=Empires: Perspectives from Archaeology and History |date=2001 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521770200 |page=169 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MBuPx1rdGYIC&pg=PA169}}</ref>
{{blockquote|{{Script|Brah|𑀭𑀸𑀜𑁄 𑀲𑀺𑀭𑀺 𑀲𑀸𑀢𑀓𑀡𑀺𑀲}} (Rāño Siri Sātakaṇisa)<br>{{Script|Brah|𑀆𑀯𑁂𑀲𑀡𑀺𑀲 𑀯𑀸𑀲𑀺𑀣𑀻𑀧𑀼𑀢𑀲}} (āvesaṇisa vāsitḥīputasa)<br>{{Script|Brah|𑀆𑀦𑀁𑀤𑀲 𑀤𑀸𑀦𑀁}} (Ānaṁdasa dānaṁ)<p>"Gift of Ananda, the son of Vasithi, the foreman of the artisans of [[raja]]n Siri Satakarni"</p>|[[:File:Siri-Satakani inscription Sanchi Stupa 1 Southern Gateway Rear of top architrave.jpg|Inscription of the Southern Gateway of the Great Stupa]]<ref name="p.48"/>}}

There are some uncertainties about the date and the identity of the [[Satakarni]] in question, as a king Satakarni is mentioned in the [[Hathigumpha inscription]] which 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 be [[Satakarni II]], who ruled in 50-25 BCE.<ref name="IH251"/><ref name="Allen" /> Another early Satavahana monument is known, [[:File:Nasik cave 19.jpg|Cave No.19]] of king [[Kanha (Satavahana dynasty)|Kanha]] (100-70 BCE) at the [[Nasik Caves]], which is much less developed artistically than the Sanchi toranas.

=== Material and carving technique ===
{{Multiple image
|align=right
|header=From ivory to stone carving under the Satavahanas
|image1=Statuetta indiana di Lakshmi, avorio, da pompei, 1-50 dc ca., 149425, 02.JPG
|caption1=[[Pompeii Lakshmi]], 1st century CE.
|width1=138
|image2=Yakshini Sanchi Stupa 1 Eastern Gateway.jpg
|caption2=Yashini, East Gateway, Sanchi.
|width2=170
}}
Although made of stone, the [[torana]] gateways 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 nearby [[Vidisha]], and an inscription on the Southern Gateway of the Great Stupa ("''[[:File:Worship of the Bodhisattva's hair Sanchi Stupa 1 Southern Gateway.jpg|The Worship of the Bodhisattva's hair]]''") was dedicated by the Guild of Ivory Carvers of [[Vidisha]].<ref name="p.51">World Heritage Monuments and Related Edifices in India, Volume 1 by Alī Jāvīd, Tabassum Javeed, Algora Publishing, 2008 [https://books.google.com/books?id=fg-lGID3WpQC&pg=PA51 p. 51]</ref><ref>In the Realm of Gods and Kings by Andrew Topsfield, Philip Wilson Publishers, 2014 [https://books.google.com/books?id=cEBcAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA250 p. 250]</ref>

[[File:Vidisha ivory carvers inscription in Sanchi.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1|Inscription ''"Vedisakehi daṃtakārehi rupakaṃmaṃ kataṃ"'' ({{Script|Brah|𑀯𑁂𑀤𑀺𑀲𑀓𑁂𑀨𑀺 𑀤𑀁𑀢𑀓𑀸𑀭𑁂𑀨𑀺 𑀭𑀼𑀧𑀓𑀁𑀫𑀁 𑀓𑀢𑀁}}, "Ivory workers from [[Vidisha]] have done the carving").<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chakrabarti |first1=Manika |title=Mālwa in Post-Maurya Period: A Critical Study with Special Emphasis on Numismatic Evidences |date=1981 |publisher=Punthi Pustak |page=100 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jba1AAAAIAAJ}}</ref>]]
The inscription reads: ''"[[:File:Vidisha ivory carvers inscription in Sanchi.jpg|Vedisakehi damtakārehi rupakammam katam]]"'' meaning "The ivory-workers from Vidisha have done the carving".<ref name="ReferenceA">Indian and Foreign Review – Volume 23 – Page 58, 1985</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Vogel |first1=Jean Ph |title=India antiqua |date=1947 |publisher=Brill Archive |page=130 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GckUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA130}}</ref>

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.<ref>Dehejia 1992</ref>

On these stone carvings the Buddha was never depicted as a human figure, due to [[aniconism 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 the [[bodhi tree]] at the point of his enlightenment. The human body was thought to be too confining for the Buddha.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}

=== Architecture: evolution of the load-bearing pillar capital ===
{{multiple image|perrow=3|total_width=400|caption_align=center|align = right
 | header=Evolution of the Indian load-bearing pillar capital, down to 1st century Sanchi
 | image1 = Pataliputra capital. Department of Archaeology, Government of India.jpg
 | caption1 =Mauryan capital ([[Pataliputra capital]])<br />4th-3rd c. BCE
 | image2=Sarnath capital in Sarnath Museum.jpg
 | caption2 =[[Sarnath capital]],<br />[[Sarnath]], c.3rd-1st c. BCE
 | image4 = Bharhut pillar capital.jpg
 | caption4  = [[Bharhut]] capital<br />2nd c. BCE
 | image5 =Sanchi lion pillar with flame palmette.jpg
 | caption5  = Sanchi lion capital<br />1st c. BCE
 | image6 = Elephants Eastern Gateway Stupa 1 Sanchi.jpg
 | caption6 =  Sanchi elephant capital<br />1st c. BCE/CE
 | image7 = Dwarfs - West Face - North Pillar - West Gateway - Stupa 1 - Sanchi Hill 2013-02-21 4326.JPG
 | caption7 =  Sanchi [[Yaksha]]s capital<br />1st c. CE
}}
Similarities have been found in the designs of the [[capital (architecture)|capitals]] of various areas of northern India from the time of [[Ashoka]] to the time of the [[Satavahanas]] at Sanchi: particularly between the [[Pataliputra capital]] at the [[Mauryan Empire]] capital of [[Pataliputra]] (3rd century BCE), the pillar capitals at the [[Sunga Empire]] Buddhist complex of [[Bharhut]] (2nd century BCE), and the pillar capitals of the Satavahanas at Sanchi (1st centuries BCE/CE).<ref name="Tadgell" />

The earliest known example in India, the [[Pataliputra capital]] (3rd century BCE) is decorated with rows of repeating [[rosette (design)|rosettes]], [[ovolo]]s and [[bead and reel]] mouldings, [[Meander (art)|wave-like]] [[Scroll (art)|scrolls]] and side [[volute]]s with central [[Rosette (decoration)|rosettes]], around a prominent central [[flame palmette]], which is the main motif. These are quite similar to [[Classical Greece|Classical Greek]] designs, and the capital has been described as quasi-[[Ionic order|Ionic]].<ref>A Companion to Asian Art and Architecture by Deborah S. Hutton, John Wiley & Sons, 2015, [https://books.google.com/books?id=7DX-CAAAQBAJ&pg=PA438 p. 438]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=9jb364g4BvoC&pg=PA44 "Buddhist Architecture" by Huu Phuoc Le Grafikol, 2010, p. 44]</ref> Greek influence,<ref>the "pilaster capitals with Greek florals and a form which is of Greek origin (though generally described as Persian) go back to [[Archaic Greece|Late Archaic]]."in "The Diffusion of Classical Art in Antiquity" John Boardman, Princeton University Press, 1993, p. 110</ref> as well as [[Persian Empire|Persian]] [[Achaemenid architecture|Achaemenid influence]] have been suggested.<ref name="auto1">"The Archaeology of South Asia: From the Indus to Asoka, c.6500 BCE-200 CE" Robin Coningham, Ruth Young Cambridge University Press, 31 aout 2015, p. 414 [https://books.google.com/books?id=hB5TCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA414]</ref>

The [[Sarnath capital]] is a pillar capital discovered in the archaeological excavations at the ancient [[Buddhist]] site of [[Sarnath]].<ref name="ASI">{{cite book |title=Archaeological Survey Of India Annual Report 1906-7 |date=1909 |page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.208474/page/n132 72] |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.208474}}</ref> The pillar displays [[Ionic order|Ionic]] volutes and [[palmette]]s.<ref name="BRM">{{cite book |last1=Mani |first1=B. R. |title=Sarnath : Archaeology, Art and Architecture |date=2012 |publisher=Archaeological Survey of India |page=[https://archive.org/details/sarnatharchaeolo00mani/page/60 60] |url=https://archive.org/details/sarnatharchaeolo00mani}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Majumdar |first1=B. |title=Guide to Sarnath |date=1937 |page=[https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.30293/page/n63 41] |url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.30293}}</ref> It has been variously dated from the 3rd century BCE during the [[Mauryan Empire]] period,<ref>Presented as a "Mauryan capital, 250 BC" with the addition of recumbent lions at the base, in the page "Types of early capitals" in {{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Percy |title=Indian Architecture (Buddhist And Hindu) |date=1959 |page=x |url=https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.54756#page/n33/mode/2up}}</ref><ref name="ASI"/> to the 1st century BCE, during the [[Sunga Empire]] period.<ref name="BRM"/> One of the faces shows a galopping horse carrying a rider, while the other face shows an elephant and its [[Mahout|mahaut]].<ref name="BRM"/>

The pillar capital in Bharhut, dated to the 2nd century BCE during the [[Sunga Empire]] period, also incorporates many of these characteristics,<ref>Early Buddhist Narrative Art by Patricia Eichenbaum Karetzky [https://books.google.com/books?id=9LjmXHFXju4C&pg=PR16 p. 16]</ref><ref>Early Byzantine Churches in Macedonia & Southern Serbia by R.F. Hoddinott [https://books.google.com/books?id=WoSuCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA17 p. 17]</ref> with a central [[anta capital]] with many [[rosette (design)|rosettes]], [[bead and reel|beads-and-reels]], as well as a central [[palmette]] design.<ref name="Tadgell">The East: Buddhists, Hindus and the Sons of Heaven, Architecture in context II, Routledge, 2015, by Christopher Tadgell [https://books.google.com/books?id=DaTbCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA24 p. 24]</ref><ref>India Archaeological Report, Cunningham, pp. 185-196</ref><ref>Age of the Nandas and Mauryas by Kallidaikurichi Aiyah Nilakanta Sastri [https://books.google.com/books?id=YoAwor58utYC&pg=PA376 p. 376 sq]</ref> Importantly, recumbent animals (lions, symbols of Buddhism) were added, in the style of the [[Pillars 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 a [[flame 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.<ref>A Comprehensive History Of Ancient India (3 Vol. Set), Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd, 2003 [https://books.google.com/books?id=gE7udqBkACwC&pg=PA87 p. 87]</ref> Elephants were later used to adorn the pillar capitals (still with the central palmette design), and lastly, [[Yakshas]] (here the palmette design disappears).

=== Main themes of the reliefs ===
[[File:Sanchi3.jpg|thumb|300px|The Great Stupa at the time of the [[Satavahanas]].]]

==== Jatakas ====
{{see also|Jataka tales}}
Various Jatakas are illustrated. These are Buddhist moral tales relating edifying events of the former lives of the Buddha as he was still a [[Bodhisattva]]. Among the Jatakas being depicted are the [[Syama Jataka]], the [[Vessantara]] Jataka and the [[Mahakapi Jataka]].

==== Miracles ====
Numerous miracles made by the Buddha are recorded. Among them:
* [[:File:Miracle of the Buddha walking on a River - East Face - South Pillar - East Gateway - Stupa 1 - Sanchi.jpg|The miracle of the Buddha walking on water]].<ref name=":0"/>
* [[:File:Miracle of fire and wood Sanchi Stupa 1 Eastern Gateway.jpg|The miracle of fire and wood]]

==== Temptation of the Buddha ====
Numerous scene refer to the temptation of the Buddha, when he was confronted with the seductive daughters of [[Mara (demon)|Mara]] and with his army of demons. Having resisted the temptations of Mara, the Buddha finds enlightenment.
Other similar scenes on the same subject:
* [[:File:Temptation of the Buddha with Mara's army fleeing.jpg|Temptation of the Buddha]] with Mara's army fleeing.
* [[:File:Temptation and enlightenment of the Buddha.jpg|Enlightenment of the Buddha]] with Mara's army fleeing.<ref>Marshall [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 p. 71]</ref>
[[File:Temptation of the Buddha with Mara and his daughters and the demons of Mara fleeing Sanchi Stupa 1 Northern Gateway.jpg|thumb|1000px|center|Temptation of the Buddha, with the Buddha on the left (symbolized by his throne only) surrounded by rejoicing devotees, [[Mara (demon)|Mara]] and his daughters (center), and the demons of Mara fleeing (right).<ref>Marshall [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 p. 55]</ref>]]

==== War over the Buddha's Relics ====
{{See also|Śarīra|Relics associated with Buddha}}
The southern gate of Stupa No1, thought to be oldest and main entrance to the stupa,<ref>[A Guide To Sanchi, Marshall, John, 1918 https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.35740 p. 37]</ref> has several depictions of the story of the Buddha's relics, starting with the War over the Relics.

After the death of the Buddha, the [[Malla (tribe)|Mallaka]]s of [[Kushinagar]] wanted 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.<ref name="Lopez Jr">{{cite encyclopedia | encyclopedia = Encyclopædia Britannica | url = http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/83105/Buddha/230773/The-Buddhas-relics | first =Donald S Jr. | last = Lopez| title = The Buddha's relics| date = 15 May 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Relics of the Buddha|first=J.S. |last=Strong|author-link=John S. Strong |year=2007 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_KLAxmR8PZAC |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|isbn=978-0-691-11764-5 |pages=136–37}}</ref> This famous view shows warfare techniques at the time of the Satavahanas, as well as a view of the city of [[Kushinagar]] of the [[Malla (tribe)|Mallaka]]s, 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:
* "''[[:File:King of the Mallas bringing the relics of the Buddha to Kushinagara.jpg|The King of the Mallakas bringing the relics of the Buddha to Kushinagara]]''", right after the death of the Buddha, before the War itself. In this relief, the king is seen seated on an elephant, holding the relics on his head.<ref>Marshall [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 pp. 68-69]</ref>
* "''[[:File:Siege of Kushinagara by the seven kings.jpg|The siege of Kushinagara by the seven kings]]''", another relief on the same subject.

[[File:War of the Relics of the Buddha Sanchi Stupa 1Southern Gateway.jpg|thumb|1000px|center|War over the Buddha's Relics, kept by the city of [[Kushinagar]], South Gate, Stupa no.1, Sanchi.<ref name="p.83ff">Asiatic Mythology by J. Hackin [https://books.google.com/books?id=HAZrFhvqnTkC&pg=PA83 p. 83ff]</ref>]]

==== Removal of the relics by Ashoka ====
According to Buddhist legend, a few centuries later, the relics would be removed from the eight guardian kingdoms by [[King Ashoka]], and enshrined into 84,000 stupas.<ref name="Lopez Jr"/>{{sfn|Strong|2007|pp=136–37}}<ref>Asoka and the Buddha-Relics, T.W. Rhys Davids, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1901, pp. 397-410 [http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-ENG/rhy1.htm]</ref> Ashoka obtained the ashes from seven of the guardian kingdoms, but failed to take the ashes from the [[Nāga|Nagas]] at [[Ramagrama]] who 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 chariot 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.<ref>Asiatic Mythology by J. Hackin [https://books.google.com/books?id=HAZrFhvqnTkC&pg=PA84 p. 84]</ref>
[[File:013 King Asoka visits Ramagrama (33428090870).jpg|thumb|1000px|center|King [[Ashoka]] visits [[Ramagrama]], to take relics of the Buddha from the [[Nāga|Nagas]], but he failed, the Nagas being too powerful. Southern gateway, Stupa 1, Southern Gateway, Sanchi.<ref name="Harvard University Press">{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Upinder |title=Political Violence in Ancient India |date=2017 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=9780674975279 |page=162 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t6A4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA162}}</ref>]]

==== Building of the Bodh Gaya temple by Ashoka ====
[[File:Sanchi King Ashoka with his Queens, South Gate, Stupa no. 1.jpg|thumb|left|Ashoka in grief, supported by his two queens, in a relief at Sanchi. Stupa 1, Southern gateway. The identification with Ashoka is confirm by a similar relief from [[Kanaganahalli]] inscribed "Raya Asoko".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Upinder |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |date=2008 |publisher=Pearson Education India |isbn=9788131711200 |page=333 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC&pg=PA333}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Thapar |first1=Romila |title=Aśoka and the Decline of the Mauryas |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199088683 |page=27 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NoAyDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT27}}</ref><ref name="Harvard University Press"/>]]
[[File:Bodhi tree temple depicted in Sanchi Stupa 1 Southern gateway.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|Bodhi tree temple depicted in Sanchi, Stupa 1, Southern gateway.]]
Ashoka went to [[Bodh Gaya]] to visit the [[Bodhi Tree]] under which the Buddha had his enlightenment, as described his [[Major Rock Edict|Major Rock Edict No.8]]. However Ashoka was profoundly grieved when he discovered that the sacred [[pipal tree]] was not properly being taken care of and dying out due to the neglect of Queen Tiṣyarakṣitā.<ref name="Lahiri">Ashoka in Ancient India Nayanjot Lahiri, Harvard University Press, 2015 [https://books.google.com/books?id=bJ_XCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA296 p. 296]</ref>

As a consequence, Ashoka endeavoured to take care of the Bodhi Tree, and built a temple around it. This temple became the center of [[Bodh 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.<ref name="Lahiri" />

Other versions of the relief depicting the temple for the Bodhi Tree are visible at Sanchi, such as the [[:File:Pipal tree temple of Bodh Gaya depicted in Sanchi Stupa 1 Eastern Gateway.jpg|Temple for the Bodhi Tree (Eastern Gateway).]]

==== Foreign devotees ====
[[File:Foreigners at Sanchi Stupa I North Gateway.jpg|thumb|350px|Foreign devotees and musicians on the Northern Gateway of Stupa I.<ref name="RS441">"Musicians generally described as "Greeks" from the eastern gateway at Sanchi" in {{cite book |last1=Stoneman |first1=Richard |title=The Greek Experience of India: From Alexander to the Indo-Greeks |date=2019 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=9780691185385 |pages=441–444, Fig. 15.6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8MFnDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA441}}</ref>]]
Some of the friezes of Sanchi also show devotees in Greek attire, wearing kilted tunics and some of them a Greek ''[[Pileus (hat)|piloi]]'' hat.<ref>"Sculptures showing Greeks or the Greek type of human figures are not lacking in ancient India. Apart from the proverbial Gandhara, Sanchi and Mathura have also yielded many sculptures that betray a close observation of the Greeks." in Graeco-Indica, India's cultural contacts, by [[Udai Prakash Arora]], published by Ramanand Vidya Bhawan, 1991, p. 12</ref><ref>These "Greek-looking foreigners" are also described in Susan Huntington, "The art of ancient India", p. 100</ref><ref name="RS441"/> They are also sometimes described as [[Sakas]], although the historical period seems too early for their presence in Central India, and the two pointed hats seem too short to be Scythian.<ref name="RS441"/> The official notice at Sanchi describes "[[:File:Scene Index - North Gateway - Stupa 1 - Sanchi Hill 2013-02-21 4272.JPG|Foreigners worshiping Stupa]]".<ref>[[:File:Scene Index - North Gateway - Stupa 1 - Sanchi Hill 2013-02-21 4272.JPG|Sanchi notice "Foreigners worshiping Stupa"]]</ref> The men are depicted with short curly hair, often held together with a [[headband]] of the type commonly seen on [[Ancient Greek coinage|Greek coins]]. The clothing too is Greek, complete with [[tunic]]s, capes and sandals, typical of the [[:File:Greek travelling costume.jpg|Greek travelling costume]].<ref name="Manjari Ukil Originals 2006, p.162">"The Greeks evidently introduced the himation and the chiton seen in the terracottas from Taxila and the short kilt worn by the soldier on the Sanchi relief." in Foreign influence on Indian culture: from c. 600 B.C. to 320 A.D., Manjari Ukil Originals, 2006, p. 162</ref> The musical instruments are also quite characteristic, such as the "thoroughly Greek" double flute called [[aulos]].<ref name="RS441"/><ref name="HPR"/> Also visible are [[carnyx]]-like [[Cornu (horn)|horns]].<ref name="HPR">"The scene shows musicians playing a variety of instruments, some of them quite extraordinary such as the Greek double flute and wind instruments with dragon head from West Asia" in The Archaeology of Seafaring in Ancient South Asia, Himanshu Prabha Ray, Cambridge University Press, 2003 [https://books.google.com/books?id=iHHzP4uVpn4C&pg=PA255 p. 255]</ref>

The actual participation of [[Yavanas]]/[[Yonas]] (Greek donors)<ref name="IAS">{{cite book|title=Purātattva, Number 8|date=1975|publisher=Indian Archaeological Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MW9DAAAAYAAJ|page=188|quote=A reference to a Yona in the Sanchi inscriptions is also of immense value.(...) One of the inscriptions announces the gift of a Setapathia Yona, "Setapathiyasa Yonasa danam" i.e the gift of a Yona, inhabitant of Setapatha. '''The word Yona can't be here anything, but a Greek donor'''}}</ref> to the construction of Sanchi is known from three inscriptions made by self-declared Yavana donors:
* The clearest of these reads "''Setapathiyasa Yonasa danam''" ("Gift of the [[Yona]] of Setapatha"),<ref>Epigraphia Indica Vol.2 [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.100320/2015.100320.Archaeological-Survey-Of-India-Epigraphia-Indica-Vol-2 p. 395 inscription 364]</ref><ref>John Mashall, The Monuments of Sanchi [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.532798 p. 348 inscription No.475]</ref> Setapatha being an uncertain city, possibly a location near [[Nasik]],<ref name="Singh">The Idea of Ancient India: Essays on Religion, Politics, and Archaeology, [[SAGE Publications]] India, Upinder Singh, 2016 [https://books.google.com/books?id=KIWTCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA18 p. 18]</ref> a place where other dedications by Yavanas are known, in cave No.17 of the [[Nasik Caves]] complex, and on the pillars of the [[Karla Caves]] not far away.
* A second similar inscription on a pillar reads: ''"[Sv]etapathasa (Yona?)sa danam"'', with probably the same meaning, ("Gift of the [[Yona]] of Setapatha").<ref name="Singh" /><ref>John Mashall, The Monuments of Sanchi [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.532798 p. 308 inscription No.89]</ref>
* The third inscription, on two adjacent pavement slabs reads ''"Cuda yo[vana]kasa bo silayo"'' ("Two slabs of Cuda, the Yonaka").<ref>John Mashall, The Monuments of Sanchi [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.532798 p. 345 inscription No.433]</ref><ref name="Singh" />

Around 113 BCE, [[Heliodurus|Heliodorus]], an ambassador of the [[Indo-Greek]] ruler [[Antialcidas]], is known to have dedicated a pillar, the [[Heliodorus pillar]], around 5 miles from Sanchi, in the village of [[Vidisha]].

Another rather similar foreigner is also depicted in [[Bharhut]], the [[Bharhut Yavana]] ({{Circa|100 BCE}}), also wearing a tunic and a royal headband in the manner of a Greek king, and displaying a Buddhist [[triratna]] on his sword.<ref name="p.180">Faces of Power: Alexander's Image and Hellenistic Politics by Andrew Stewart [https://books.google.com/books?id=1SUw29Q_SeMC&pg=PA180 p. 180]</ref><ref name="Antiquity, John Boardman 1993, p.112">"The Diffusion of Classical Art in Antiquity", John Boardman, 1993, p. 112</ref> [[:File:Udayagiri Yavana warrior.jpg|Another one]] can be seen in the region of [[Odisha]], in the [[Udayagiri and Khandagiri Caves]].

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0 auto;"  align="center"  colspan=1 cellpadding="3" style="font-size: 80%; width: 100%;"
|align="center" colspan=1 style="background:#DCDCDC; font-size: 100%;"| '''Northwestern foreigners at Sanchi'''
|-
|<gallery mode="packed" heights="150px">
File:Sanchi Stupa 2 man on horse.jpg|Foreigner on a horse, circa 115 BCE, Stupa No2.<ref name="AG"/><ref name="Shaw 90"/>
File:Foreigners in Greek dress playing carnyxes and aolus flute at Sanchi.jpg|Detail of the foreigners, in Greek dress and playing [[carnyx]]es and [[Musical system of ancient Greece|aolus]] flute. Northern Gateway of Stupa I (detail).
File:Foreigners riding winged lions Sanchi Stupa 1 Eastern Gateway.jpg|Foreigners holding grapes and riding winged lions, Sanchi Stupa 1, Eastern Gateway.<ref>"The Diffusion of Classical Art in Antiquity, John Boardman, 1993, p. 112 Note 91</ref>
File:Torana of Stupa 3 in Sanchi Foreign riders.jpg|Foreign horseriders, Southern Gateway of Stupa 3.
File:Torana of Stupa 3 in Sanchi Foreigner fighting a Makara.jpg|Foreigner with headband fighting a [[Makara (Hindu mythology)|Makara]]. Southern Gateway of Stupa 3.
File:Sanchi foreigners Western gate rear top architrave.jpg|Foreigners on horses, wearing headbands, caps and boots. Western gate of Stupa 1.
</gallery>
|}

==== Aniconism ====
[[File:Miracle at Kapilavastu Suddhodana praying as his son the Buddha rises in the air with only path visible Sanchi Stupa 1 Northern Gateway.jpg|thumb|Aniconism in ''Miracle at [[Kapilavastu (ancient city)|Kapilavastu]]'': King [[Suddhodana]] praying as his son the [[Buddha]] rises in the air, praised by celestial beings (but only his path, the horizontal slab in the air, is visible).<ref name="p.58 Third Panel">Marshall [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 p. 58 Third Panel]</ref>]]
{{see also|Aniconism in Buddhism}}
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 the ''[[:File:Miracle of the Buddha walking on a River - East Face - South Pillar - East Gateway - Stupa 1 - Sanchi.jpg|Miracle of the Buddha walking on the river Nairanjana]]'' he is just represented by his path on the water;<ref name="p.64">Marshall [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 p. 64]</ref> in the ''[[:File:Procession of king Suddhodana from Kapilavastu in full Sanchi Stupa 1 Eastern Gateway.jpg|Procession 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.<ref name="p.64"/>

[[File:Chankrama.jpg|thumb|left|"The promenade of the Buddha", or [[Chankrama]], used to depict the Buddha in motion in [[Aniconism in Buddhism|Buddhist aniconism]].]]
In one of the reliefs of the ''[[:File:Miracle at Kapilavastu Suddhodana praying as his son the Buddha rises in the air with only path visible Sanchi Stupa 1 Northern Gateway.jpg|Miracle at Kapilavastu]]'', King [[Suddhodana]] is seen praying as his son the [[Buddha]] rises 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 a ''chankrama'' or "promenade".<ref name="p.58 Third Panel"/>

Otherwise, the presence of the Buddha is symbolized by an empty throne, as in the scene of ''[[:File:Bimbisara with his royal cortege issuing from the city of Rajagriha to visit the Buddha.jpg|Bimbisara with his royal cortege issuing from the city of Rajagriha to visit the Buddha]]''.<ref name=":0">A Guide to Sanchi, Marshall [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 p. 65]</ref> Similar scenes would later appear in the [[Greco-Buddhist art]] of [[Gandhara]], but this time with representations of the Buddha. [[John Marshall (archaeologist)|John Marshall]] detailed every panel in his seminal work "A Guide to Sanchi".<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 A Guide to Sanchi, John Marshall]</ref>

This aniconism 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 the ''[[Sarvastivada]] [[vinaya]]'' (rules of the early Buddhist school of the [[Sarvastivada]]): ''""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""''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rhi |first1=Ju-Hyung |title=From Bodhisattva to Buddha: The Beginning of Iconic Representation in Buddhist Art |journal=Artibus Asiae |volume=54 |issue=3/4 |date=1994 |pages=220–221 |doi=10.2307/3250056 |jstor=3250056 }}</ref>

=== The Gateways or Toranas ===
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 emperor [[Ashoka]] to spread the Buddhist faith.

==== Stupa 1 Southern Gateway ====
The Southern Gateway of Stupa No1 is thought to be oldest and main entrance to the stupa.<ref>A Guide To Sanchi, Marshall, John, 1918 [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.35740 p. 37]</ref> The narrative friezes of this gateway put great emphasis on the relics of the Buddha, and on the role of [[Ashoka]] in 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.<ref name="Marshall 46" />

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0 auto;"  align="center"  colspan="3" cellpadding="3" style="font-size: 80%; width: 100%;"
|-
|state = collapsed align=center colspan=3 style="background:#F0E68C; font-size: 100%;"| '''[[:Commons:Category:Sanchi gateways : South gateway of stupa 1|Southern Gateway]]'''<br />("Great Stupa" No1, Sanchi. 1st century BCE.)
|-
|colspan=2 align="center" style="font-size: 100%; width: 1%;"|[[File:Sanchi (2).JPG|250px]]
|'''The Southern Gateway of Stupa 1'''. The Southern Gateway of Stupa 1 is one of the four richly carved gateways or [[torana]]s, surrounding Stupa 1, the "Great Stupa". It is the main one as it was erected in front of the steps by which the terrace was ascended. The Southern Gateway was also the first to be erected. Then followed, in chronological order, the Northern, the Eastern and the Western, their succession in each case being demonstrated by the style of their carvings. It is probable, however, that not more than three or four decades intervened between the building of the Southern and Western gateways.

A few of the surfaces of the Southern Gateway are undecorated or lost. Like the other gateways, the Southern Gateway is composed of two square pillars surmounted by capitals, which in their turn support a superstructure of three architraves with volute ends.<ref name="Marshall 37">John Marshall, A Guide to Sanchi, 1918 [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 p. 37ff] (Public Domain text)</ref>
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#DCDCDC; font-size: 100%;"| '''Architraves'''
|-
|align="center"|[[File:Architraves with Four Lions Pillar Heads - South Gateway - Stupa 1 - Sanchi Hill 2013-02-21 4352.JPG|120px]]
Front architraves
|align="center"|[[File:Architraves - Rare Side - South Gateway - Stupa 1 - Sanchi Hill 2013-02-21 4384.jpg|120px]]
Rear architraves
|Some material was lost over two thousand years, and the restoration had to make up for lost elements with some blank slabs. The whole of the right jamb and half of the left are new, 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. When the gateway was restored, the top and the lowest lintels appear to have been reversed by mistake, since the more important sculptures on them now face the stupa instead of facing outwards.<ref name="Marshall 46" />
|-
|colspan=2 align="center"|[[File:013 King Asoka visits Ramagrama (33428090870).jpg|250px]]
Front middle architrave
|'''Emperor [[Ashoka]] visits [[Ramagrama]]'''. Emperor [[Ashoka]] visited [[Ramagrama]], to take relics of the Buddha from the [[Nāga|Nagas]], but he failed, the Nagas being too powerful.<br />
After the death of the [[Buddha]], his relics were originally divided into eight portions, and shared between eight princes. Each of the princes constructed a [[stupa]] at or near his capital city, within which the respective portion of the ashes was enshrined.<ref name=Shrestha1999>{{cite journal|last=Shrestha|first=SS|title=Ramagrama excavation|journal=Ancient Nepal: Journal of the Department of Archaeology|volume=142|pages=1–12|year=1999|url=http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/ancientnepal/pdf/ancient_nepal_142_01.pdf|access-date=2014-11-30}}</ref> These eight stupas were erected at [[Rajagriha]], [[Vaisali]], [[Kapilavastu (ancient city)|Kapilavastu]], [[Allakappa]], [[Ramagrama]], [[Vothadvipa]], [[Pava]] and [[Kusinara]].<ref name="Marshall 50" /><br />
About two centuries later, in order to spread the Buddhist faith, [[Asoka]] endeavored to gather the eight shares of the relics to divide them up, and distribute them among 84,000 stupas, which he himself erected. He only obtained seven of these portions: he failed to secure the relics of Ramagrama in the [[Ancient Nepal|Nepal]] [[Tarai]], in face of the resolute opposition of their devoted guardians, the [[Nāga|Nagas]].<ref name="Marshall 46" /><br />
Here, in the centre of the architrave, is depicted the stupa of Ramagrama. Above the stupa are heavenly figures bearing garlands in their hands. To the right, the Emperor Asoka is approaching in his chariot, accompanied by a retinue of elephants, horsemen and footmen; and to the left, the Nagas and Nagis, in human form with serpent hoods, worshiping at the stupa, bringing offerings, or emerging from the waters of a lotus-pond.<ref name="Marshall 46">John Marshall, A Guide to Sanchi, 1918 [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 p. 46ff] (Public Domain text)</ref>
On the projecting end of this architrave is an elephant in a lotus-pond with mahaut and females on its back, and a second female scrambling up behind; in the background, a pavilion with female figures looking out. To what particular incident this relief refers, is not known.<ref name="Marshall 46" /><br />
An inscription on the dome of the stupa records that the architrave was the gift of one Balamitra, pupil of "Ayachuda (Arya-Kshudra), the preacher of the Law".
|-
|colspan=2 align="center"|[[File:022 Stupas and Bodhi Trees representing the Seven Buddhas (33772342726).jpg|250px]]
Rear top architrave
|'''The seven Buddhas'''.
{{see also|List of the named Buddhas}}
Six Buddhas of the past and Gautama Buddha, with his [[Bodhi Tree]] at the extreme right. In the central section are three stupas alternating with four trees with thrones in front of them, adored by figures both human and divine. These represent the six Buddhas of the past (namely : [[Vipassī Buddha|Vipassi]], [[Sikhī Buddha|Sikhi]], [[Vessabhū Buddha|Vessabhu]], [[Kakusandha Buddha|Kakusandha]], [[Koṇāgamana Buddha|Konagamana]] and [[Kassapa Buddha|Kaasapa]]) and [[Gautama Buddha]]. Three are symbolized by their stupas, and four by the trees under which each respectively attained enlightenment. The tree on the extreme right is the [[pipal tree]] of Gautama Buddha and the one next to it is the [[banyan tree]] of [[Kasyapa]] Buddha. The identification of the others is less certain.
[[File:Siri-Satakani inscription Sanchi Stupa 1 Southern Gateway Rear of top architrave.jpg|thumb|120px|The [[Satakarni II|Siri-Satakani]] inscription]]
The inscription on the dome of the central stupa reads "L. 1. rano Siri Satakanisa/ L. 2. avesanisa vasithiputasa/ L. 3. Anamdasa danam" ("Gift of Anamda, the son of Vdsithi (Vdsishthi ), the foreman of the artisans (avesanin) of [[raja]]n [[Satakarni II|Siri-Satakani]]).<ref name="Marshall 46" /> This inscription has been decisive in attributing the construction of the gateways to the time of the [[Satavahana Empire]].<br />
On each of the projecting ends of this lintel is a horse with attendants and royal umbrella, issuing from a city gate. Possibly it is Kanthaka, the horse of Gautama, when he was going forth from the city of [[Kapilavastu (ancient city)|Kapilavastu]].<ref name="Marshall 46" /><br />
When the gateway was restored, this lintel (together with the bottom one) appears to have been reversed by mistake, since the more important sculptures on them now face the stupa instead of facing outwards.<ref name="Marshall 46" />
|-
|colspan=2 align="center"|[[File:War over the Buddha's Relics, South Gate, Stupa no. 1, Sanchi.jpg|250px]]
Rear bottom architrave<br />
[[File:Sanchi3 N-MP-220.jpg|200px]]<br />
Full architrave with wings
|'''War over the Buddha's Relics'''.
{{see also|Relics associated with Buddha}}
[[File:Conjectural reconstruction of the main gate of Kusinagara circa 500 BCE adapted from a relief at Sanchi.jpg|thumb|This Sanchi relief permitted this reconstruction of the city of [[Kushinagara]] circa 500 BCE.]]
The Buddha died in [[Kushinagara]], the capital of the [[Malla (tribe)|Mallaka]]s, who initially tried to keep all the relics of the Buddha for themselves. A war erupted in which the chiefs of seven other clans waged war against the Mallakas of Kushinara for the possession of the Buddha's relics. In the centre of the architrave, the siege of Kushinara is in progress; to right and left, the victorious chiefs are departing in chariots and on elephants, with the relics borne on the heads of the latter.<ref name="Marshall 46" /><br />
The scene is carried through on to the projecting ends of the architrave, and the seated elephants on the intervening false capitals are clearly intended to be part and parcel of the scene.<ref name="Marshall 46" /><ref name="p.83ff"/><br />
When the gateway was restored, this lintel (together with the top one) appears to have been reversed by mistake, since the more important sculptures on them now face the stupa instead of facing outwards.<ref name="Marshall 46" />
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#DCDCDC; font-size: 100%;"| '''Pillar capitals'''
|-
|align="center"|[[File:018 Lions uphold the Pillar (33428081050).jpg|120px]]
Left
|align="center"|[[File:Four Lions - East Pillar Top - South Gateway - Stupa 1 - Sanchi Hill 2013-02-21 4356.JPG|120px]]
Right
|The pillars of the Southern Gateway feature lions in the manner of the [[Pillars of Ashoka]]. They are the only pillar capitals of the Sanchi complex to do so.
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#DCDCDC; font-size: 100%;"| '''Pillars'''
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#F5F5F5; font-size: 100%;"|'''External faces'''
|-
|align=center|[[File:Left external side Southern Gateway Stupa 1 Sanchi.jpg|80px]]
|align=center|[[File:Right external side Southern Getaway Stupa 1 Sanchi.jpg|80px]]
|The left external face consists in a foliage scroll inhabited by numerous animals and garlands, as well as an amorous couple repeated several time. Of the right pillar external face, nothing remains, and it has been left blank by the reconstitution under Marshall.
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#F5F5F5; font-size: 100%;"| '''Left pillar, Front face'''
|-
|style="width: 10%;"|Top panel
|align="center"|[[File:Ashoka with his two Queens visiting the Deer Park Sanchi Stupa 1 Southern Gateway.jpg|120px]]
|'''[[Ashoka]] with his two queens visiting the [[Sarnath|Deer Park]]'''. A Persepolitan column, rising from a stepped base and supporting a wheel with thirty-two spokes and an equal number of [[triratna]] devices on its outer rim. This is the [[dharmachakra]] or "Wheel of the Law", the emblem of the Buddha's first sermon. On either side of the wheel are celestial figures with garlands; below them are four groups of worshipers, and below the latter, [[deer]]s, to indicate the spot where the first sermon was preached, namely, in the [[Sarnath|Deer Park]] (Mrigadava) near [[Benares]]. In each of the groups of worshipers is a king with attendant females, the same figures apparently being repeated four times. They probably represent Asoka with his two queens visiting the Deer Park during his pilgrimage to the holy places of Buddhism.<ref name="Marshall 50">A Guide to Sanchi, John Marshall [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 p. 50ff] Public Domain text</ref>
|-
|2nd panel
|align="center"|[[File:Procession of King Ashoka on his charriot Sanchi Stupa 1 Southern Gateway.jpg|120px]]
|'''Procession of Emperor [[Ashoka]] on his chariot'''. The Emperor Asoka in his chariot with his retinue around.<ref name="Marshall 50" />
|-
|3rd panel
|align="center"|[[File:Cortège of Mara - South Face - West Pillar - South Gateway - Stupa 1 - Sanchi Hill 2013-02-21 4353.JPG|120px]]
|'''The Cortège of Mara'''. According to Marshall, relating the panel to the next one on the inner face, deities are seen on foot, on horseback and on elephants, hastening to do homage to the Bodhisattva's locks.<ref name="Marshall 50" />
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#F5F5F5; font-size: 100%;"| '''Left pillar, Inner face'''
|-
|Top panel
|align="center"|[[File:Bodhi tree temple depicted in Sanchi Stupa 1 Southern gateway.jpg|120px]]
|'''Bodhi tree temple of [[Bodh Gaya]] built by Ashoka.''' The temple around the [[Bodhi Tree]] (the [[pipal tree]] beneath which the Buddha had attained enlightenment) was erected by Asoka himself. This Temple is [[hypaethral]]. Here the sanctity of the tree is indicated by umbrellas and garlands, and on the throne inside the shrine are three [[triratna]] symbols.<ref name="Marshall 50" />
|-
|2nd panel
|align="center"|[[File:Sanchi King Ashoka with his Queens, South Gate, Stupa no. 1.jpg|120px]]
|'''Ashoka in grief, supported by his two queens'''. Ashoka is in grief as he saw the pipal tree of the Buddha being neglected by the jealous Empress [[Tissarakkha|Tishyarakshita]]. He is so shocked that he has to be supported by two of his wives. He would thereafter build a temple around the tree, seen in the panel above, and which would become the sacred temple of [[Bodh Gaya]].<ref>Interpretation in "Ashoka in Ancient India", by Nayanjot Lahiri, Harvard University Press, 2015 [https://books.google.com/books?id=bJ_XCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA296 p. 296]</ref><ref name="Marshall 50" />
|-
|3rd panel
|align="center"|[[File:Trayastrimsa Heaven.jpg|120px]]
|'''Worship of the [[Bodhisattva]]'s hair'''. In the lowest panel of the inner face is a company of deities in the [[Trayastrimsa]] heaven, where [[Indra]] held sway, rejoicing over and worshiping the hair of the [[Bodhisattva]]. The story told in the Buddhist scriptures is that, before embracing a religious life, Gautama divested himself of his princely garments and cut off his long hair with his sword, casting both hair and turban into the air, whence they were borne by the devas to the Trayastrimsa heaven and worshiped there.<ref name="Marshall 50" />
This particular relief was dedicated by the Guild of Ivory Carvers of [[Vidisha]] (horizontal inscription on the lintel), suggesting that a part of the gateways at least was made by ivory carvers.<ref name="p.51"/> At the least, the delicacy of workmanship and spatial effect attained in the panel of the Trayastrimsa heaven is particularly striking, and makes it understandable that, as the inscription on it records, it was the work of ivory-carvers of [[Vidisha]]. The inscription reads: 'Vedisehi dantakarehi rupadamam katam' meaning "The ivory-carvers from Vidisha have done the carving".<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>Epigraphia Indice Vol.2 [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.100320/2015.100320.Archaeological-Survey-Of-India-Epigraphia-Indica-Vol-2 p. 378 Inscription No.200]</ref> Some of the [[Begram ivories]] or the "''[[Pompeii Lakshmi]]''" give an indication of the kind of ivory works that could have influenced the carvings at Sanchi.
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#F5F5F5; font-size: 100%;"| '''Left pillar, Rear face'''
|-
|Unique panel
|align="center"|[[File:Rear view Left pillar Stupa 1 South Gateway.jpg|120px]]
|To the left of the panel, a royal figure is seated beneath a canopy, holding a female by the hand; in the middle, another female seated on a low stool; to the right, two other figures standing, with a child behind bearing a garland (?). At the back of them is a [[True plantains|plantain]] tree, and above, a [[Chaitya]]'s window with an umbrella on either side. The meaning of this scene is uncertain.<ref name="Marshall 50" />
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#F5F5F5; font-size: 100%;"| '''Right pillar'''
|-
|
|
|Blank. All reliefs and inscriptions lost.
|}
<noinclude>

==== Stupa 1 Northern Gateway ====
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) shows ''[[:File:Foreigners making a dedication to Stupa 1at the Northern Gateway of Stupa 1 Sanchi.jpg|Foreigners making a dedication at the Southern Gateway of Stupa No 1]]''.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0 auto;"  align="center"  colspan="3" cellpadding="3" style="font-size: 80%; width: 100%;"
|-
|state = collapsed align=center colspan=3 style="background:#A9A9A9; font-size: 100%;"|  '''[[:Commons:Category:Sanchi gateways : North gateway of stupa 1|Northern Gateway]]'''<br />("Great Stupa" No1, Sanchi. 1st century BCE.)
|-
|colspan=2 align="center" style="font-size: 100%; width: 1%;"|[[File:North Gateway - Stupa 1 - Sanchi Hill 2013-02-21 4273.JPG|250px]]
|'''The Northern Gateway of Stupa 1'''. The Northern Gateway of Stupa 1 is one of the four richly carved gateways or [[torana]]s, surrounding Stupa 1, the "Great Stupa". The Northern Gateway was the second to be erected.

The best preserved of all four gateways is the Northern one, which still retains most of its ornamental figures and gives a good idea of the original appearance of all the gateways. Like the other gateways, the Northern Gateway is composed of two square pillars surmounted by capitals, which in their turn support a superstructure of three architraves with volute ends.<ref name="Marshall 37"/>
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#DCDCDC; font-size: 100%;"| '''Architraves'''
|-
|[[File:Sanchi Stupa, Bhopal, Inda 16.JPG|120px]]
Front architraves
|[[File:GATEWAY OF PEACE.JPG|120px]]
Rear architraves
|The architraves are all almost intact. They are crowned by two large decorated [[Shrivatsa]] symbols in the round, symbols of Buddhism, as well as the remnants of a [[Dharmachakra]] (Wheel of the Law) at the center. The lintels have seated lions and [[Yakshini]]s, also in the round, at their ends.
|-
|colspan=2 align="center"|[[File:Temptation of the Buddha with Mara and his daughters and the demons of Mara fleeing Sanchi Stupa 1 Northern Gateway.jpg|250px]]
Rear central architrave
|[[File:Vajrasana Diamond Throne of Ashoka at Bodh Gaya.jpg|thumb|upright|The actual "[[Diamond throne]]" at [[Bodh Gaya]], built by Ashoka {{Circa|260 BCE}}.]]
'''Temptation of the Buddha with [[Mara (demon)|Mara]] and his daughters, and the demons of Mara fleeing'''. Towards the left end of the panel is the [[pipal tree]] at [[Bodh Gaya]] with an umbrella and streamers above, and, in front, the [[diamond throne]] (Vajrasana) of the Buddha, whereon he sat when he withstood the temptations and threats of [[Mara (demon)|Mara]], the Satan of Buddhism, and when he attained to Buddhahood. Human and celestial beings are adoring it. The figure to the left of it is perhaps [[Gautama Buddha#Ascetic life and awakening|Sujata]], bringing the meal which she prepared for Gautama before he began his last meditation prior to his enlightenment. Near the middle of the panel is Mara, seated on a throne with attendants around, and advancing from him towards the throne are his daughters, who sought by their blandishments to seduce Gautama from his purpose. On his other side, i.e., in the right half of the panel, are the hosts of Mara's demons, personifying the vices, the passions and the fears of mankind. The vigor and humor with which these fantastic beings are portrayed is very striking, and far more forceful than anything of the kind produced by the artists of the [[Greco-Buddhist art]] of [[Gandhara]].<ref>Marshall [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 p. 55ff] Public Domain text</ref><br />
See also [[s:The Life of Buddha/Part One/19. Mara's Defeat|Mara's Defeat (in "The Life of Buddha")]].
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#DCDCDC; font-size: 100%;"| '''Pillar capitals'''
|-
|align="center"|[[File:Left capital Sanchi Stupa 1 Northern Gateway.jpg|120px]]
Left
|align="center"|[[File:Right capital Sanchi Stupa 1 Northern Gateway.jpg|120px]]
Right
|Elephants facing the four directions decorate the top of the gateway pillars and support the architraves. They are gathered around a central pillar of square section decorated with a large [[flame palmette]] design. The capitals are flanked by a dancing [[Yakshini]] under foliage.
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#DCDCDC; font-size: 100%;"| '''Pillars'''
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#F5F5F5; font-size: 100%;"| '''External faces'''
|-
|align=center|[[File:Left side Sanchi Stupa 1 Northern Gateway.jpg|40px]]
Left
|align=center|[[File:Right external face of Northwern Gateway Stupa 1 Sanchi.jpg|40px]]
Right
|'''Left'''. The external side of the left pillar (facing the east) doesn't have narrative reliefs, but only displays [[Buddhist symbolism|Buddhist symbols]] as well as intricate vegetal designs. The external face is separated vertically in three bands, the central band consisting in a superposition of numerous [[flame palmette]]s (nine in total), and the two external bands consisting in a superposition of hooks holdings [[garland]]s. The bottom of the pillar face has two [[Buddha footprint|footprints of the Buddha]] with a [[Dharmachakra|wheel of the Law]] on their sole. The pillar face is crowned by a decorated [[Shrivatsa]] symbol.<ref name="Marshall 58">John Marshall, A Guide to Sanchi, 1918 [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 p. 58ff] (Public Domain text)</ref>
'''Right'''. The external face on the right side has the same background decoration, with the three vertical bands and the superposition of [[flame palmette]]s, and hooks holdings [[garland]]s, but lacks the bottom and top symbols of the [[Buddha footprint]] and the decorated [[Shrivatsa]].
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#F5F5F5; font-size: 100%;"| '''Left pillar, Front face'''<br />(Most of the scenes on this face appear to relate to [[Sravasti]].)
|-
|style="width: 10%;"|Top panel
|align="center"|[[File:Great Miracle at Savrasti (also called Miracle of the Mango Tree) Sanchi Stupa 1 Northern Gateway.jpg|120px]]
|[[File:Buddha performs miracle of Sravasti Gandhara.jpg|thumb|150px|The Buddha in [[Levitation (physics)|levitation]] performing the Miracle of Sravasti, Gandhara, 100-200 CE.]]
'''[[Great Miracle at Sravasti]] (also called Mango Tree Miracle, when the Buddha walks in the air)'''.<br />
In the center, a [[mango tree]] with the throne of the [[Buddha]] in front (the Buddha, of course, [[aniconism|not being illustrated]]). Round the Buddha is a circle of his followers bringing garlands to the tree or in attitudes of adoration. It was beneath a mango tree that, according to the [[Pali]] texts, Buddha performed the great miracle at [[Sravasti]], when he walked in the air, and flames broke from his shoulders and streams of water from his feet. But here there is no definite indication of the miracle.<ref name="Marshall 58"/>

In the [[Anthropomorphism|anthropomorphic]] (non-[[aniconism|aniconic]]) [[Greco-Buddhist art]] of [[Gandhara]], the Buddha would simply be shown in his human form, rising slightly in the air, with flames springing from his feet and water emanating from his shoulders.
|-
|2nd panel
|align="center"|[[File:Jetavana of Sravasti Sanchi Stupa 1 Northern Gateway.jpg|120px]]
|'''[[Jetavana]] of [[Sravasti]], showing the three preferred residences of the Buddha'''.
[[File:Bharhut Jetavana Jataka.jpg|thumb|150px|Jetavana story, [[Bharhut]], 2nd century BCE.]]
The [[Jetavana]] at [[Sravasti]], showing the three favourite residences of the Buddha: the Gandhakuti, the Kosambakuti and the Karorikuti, with the throne of the Buddha in the front of each. The Jetavana garden was presented to the Buddha by the rich banker [[Anathapindika]], who purchased it for as many gold pieces as would cover the surface of the ground. Hence, the foreground of the relief is shown covered with ancient Indian coins ( [[karshapana]]s ), just as it is in the similar relief at [[Bharhut]], where the details of the coins are more in evidence.<ref name="Marshall 58" />
|-
|3rd panel
|align="center"|[[File:Aerial promenade of the Buddha Sanchi Stupa 1 Northern Gateway.jpg|120px]]
|'''Aerial promenade of the Buddha'''. Presumably, the long band on top of the heads of devotees is the promenade the Buddha is walking on. The long open pavilion (mandapa) calls to mind the one at [[Sravasti]], which is portrayed in the [[Bharhut]] relief.<ref name="Marshall 58" />
|-
|4th panel
|align="center"|[[File:Procession of Prasenajit of Kosala leaving Sravasti to meet the Buddha.jpg|120px]]
|'''Procession of King [[Prasenajit]] of [[Kosala]] leaving [[Sravasti]] to meet the Buddha'''. A royal procession issuing from a city gate, probably [[Prasenajit]] of [[Kosala]] going forth from [[Sravasti]] to meet the Buddha.<ref name="Marshall 58" />
|-
|5th panel
|align="center"|[[File:Paradise of Indra (nandana) Sanchi Stupa 1 Northern gateway.jpg|120px]]
|'''Paradise of [[Indra]] (nandana)'''. The meaning of this scene, which is analogous to several others on the gateways, is not clear. Perhaps, like the scene on the gateways of
Stupa No3, it may represent the Paradise of [[Indra]] (nandana), where pleasure and passion held sway.<ref name="Marshall 58" />
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#F5F5F5; font-size: 100%;"| '''Left pillar, Inner face'''<br />(This face refers particularly to [[Rajagriha]])
|-
|Top panel
|align="center"|[[File:The Visit of Indra to the Buddha in the Indrasaila cave near Rajagriha Sanchi Stupa 1Northern Gateway.jpg|120px]]
|[[File:Indras Visit to Indrasala Cave - Schist - ca 2nd Century CE - Kushana Period - Loriyan Tangai - ACCN 5100-A23290 - Indian Museum - Kolkata 2016-03-06 1519.JPG|thumb|The same scene in the [[Greco-Buddhist art]] of [[Gandhara]]. [[Loriyan Tangai]].]]
'''Visit of [[Indra]] to the Buddha in the [[Indrasaila cave]] near [[Rajagriha]]'''. In the upper part of the panel is an artificial cave resembling in its facade many [[Indian rock-cut architecture|rock-cut]] Buddhist [[chaitya]] shrines in [[Western India|Western]] and [[Central India]]. In front of the door is the throne which marks the presence of the Buddha. The animals peering out from among the rocks serve to indicate the wildness of the spot. Below is the company of Indra in attitudes of worship, but which of these figures represents Indra and which his musician [[Panchasikha]] who accompanied him, it is not possible to determine.<ref name="Marshall 58" />
|-
|2nd panel
|align="center"|[[File:Royal cortege leaving Rajagriha.jpg|120px]]
|'''Royal cortege leaving [[Rajagriha]]'''. A king and his royal cortege issuing from a city. As the panel on this side of the pillar relates particularly to Rajagriha, it is probable that the King is either [[Bimbisara]] or [[Ajatashatru]], on a visit to the Buddha at the [[Gridhrakuta]] Hill, and that the city is Rajagriha.<ref name="Marshall 58" /><br />See also: [[s:The Life of Buddha/Part One/16. Siddhartha and King Vimbasara|Siddhartha and King Bimbasara (in "The Life of Buddha")]].
|-
|3rd panel
|align="center"|[[File:Bamboo garden (Venuvana) at Rajagriha, the visit of Bimbisara.jpg|120px]]
|'''Bamboo garden (Venuvana) at [[Rajagriha]], the visit of [[Bimbisara]]'''. The Bamboo garden (Venuvana ) at Rajagriha, with the throne of the Buddha in the center and devotees around. The identity of the spot is indicated by the bamboos on either side of the panel.<ref name="Marshall 58" /> This event refers to a visit of King [[Bimbisara]] to the Buddha.<ref name="Marshall 58" /><br />
{{See also|s:The Life of Buddha/Part Two/7. The Buddha at the Bamboo Grove|l1=The Buddha at the Bamboo Grove (in "The Life of Buddha")}}
|-
|4th panel
|align="center"|[[File:Dvarapala Sanchi Stupa 1 Northern Gateway.jpg|120px]]
|'''[[Dvarapala]] guardian deity'''. Positioned as it is, in the inside panel of the gateway, the deity guards the left side of the entrance to the stupa. This Dvarapala is faced by another one on the right side.
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#F5F5F5; font-size: 100%;"| '''Right pillar, Inner face'''
|-
|Top panel
|align="center"|[[File:Sanchi Great Stupa Northern Gateway foreigners.jpg|120px]]
|'''Foreigners making a dedication to Southern Gateway of the Great Stupa'''. Probably the dedication of a stupa, but it might also refer to the death ([[parinirvana]]) of the Buddha. Among the crowds who are celebrating the occasion with music and dancing, some are wearing dresses and high boots suggestive of a cold climate. The individual and realistic features of the people can also be noticed.<ref name="Marshall 57">John Marshall, A Guide to Sanchi, 1918 [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 p. 57ff] (Public Domain text)</ref> The official notice at Sanchi reads "[[:File:Scene Index - North Gateway - Stupa 1 - Sanchi Hill 2013-02-21 4272.JPG|Foreigners worshiping Stupa]]".<br /> The relief shows 18 of these foreigners and 4 [[Gandharva]] celestial deities in the sky above.<br />
[[File:Foreigners in Greek dress playing carnyxes and aolus flute at Sanchi.jpg|thumb|150px|Foreigners playing [[carnyx]]es and [[aulos]] flute at Sanchi (detail).]]
These have been called "Greek-looking foreigners"<ref>Susan Huntington, "The art of ancient India", p. 100</ref> wearing Greek clothing complete with [[tunic]]s, capes and sandals, typical of the [[:File:Greek travelling costume.jpg|Greek travelling costume]],<ref name="Manjari Ukil Originals 2006, p.162"/> and using Greek and [[Central Asian]] musical instruments ( the double flute [[aulos]], or the [[carnyx]]-like [[Cornu (horn)|Cornu horns]]), possibly pointing to the [[Indo-Greeks]].<br />
Another rather similar foreigner is also depicted in [[Bharhut]], the [[:File:Bharhut Stupa Yavana.jpg|Bharhut Yavana]], also wearing a tunic and a royal headband in the manner of a Greek king, and displaying a Buddhist [[triratna]] on his sword.<ref name="p.180"/><ref name="Antiquity, John Boardman 1993, p.112"/> The top of the panel show celestial divinities celebrating the dedication of the Stupa.
|-
|2nd panel
|align="center"|[[File:Offering of a bowl of honey to the Blessed One by a monkey Sanchi Stupa 1 Northern Gateway.jpg|120px]]
|'''Offering of a bowl of honey to the Blessed One by a monkey'''. The offering of a bowl of honey to the Blessed One by a monkey. The Buddha is here represented by his [[pipal tree]] and throne, to which devotees are doing obeisance. The figure of the monkey is twice repeated, first with the bowl and then with empty hands after the gift has been made. The incident is portrayed in much the same way on the reliefs of the [[Greco-Buddhist art]] of [[Gandhara]].<ref name="Marshall 57" />
|-
|3rd panel
|align="center"|[[File:Miracle at Kapilavastu Suddhodana praying as his son the Buddha rises in the air with only path visible Sanchi Stupa 1 Northern Gateway.jpg|120px]]
|'''Miracle at [[Kapilavastu (ancient city)|Kapilavastu]]'''. [[Suddhodana]] praying as his son the [[Buddha]] rises in the air, praised by celestial beings (only his path is visible). This panel is to be interpreted in conjunction with the corresponding panel adjoining it on the front face of the same pillar. When Buddha returned to his native city of Kapilavastu, his father Suddhodana came forth with a royal retinue to meet him, and a question of etiquette arose as to which should salute the other first: the father, who was king, or the son, who had become the Buddha. Thereupon the Buddha solved the difficulty by walking miraculously in mid-air. Here, in the panel on the inner face, we see a [[banyan tree]], and, in front of it, the throne symbolizing the Buddha; while suspended in the air above it is the chahkrama or promenade on which the Buddha used to take his exercise and which here symbolises that he is walking in the air. Above it are celestial beings ([[gandharva]]s) with garlands in their hands. To the right of the tree is King [[Suddhodana]] with attendants, one of whom is holding the royal umbrella. The reason for the banyan tree ([[Ficus Indica]], Skr : nyagrodha) is that King Suddhodana presented a park of banyan trees to his son on his return, and the tree, therefore, helps to localize the incident. In the corresponding scene on the front face the Buddha is probably represented in this park with disciples (but invisible due to [[aniconism]]) and followers around him.<ref name="Marshall 57" />
|-
|4th panel
|align="center"|[[File:Dvarapala Sanchi Stupa 1Northern Gateway right pillar.jpg|120px]]
|'''[[Dvarapala]] guardian deity'''. Positioned as it is, in the inside panel of the gateway, the deity guards the right side of the entrance to the stupa. This Dvarapala is faced by another one on the left side.
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#F5F5F5; font-size: 100%;"| '''Right pillar, Front face'''
|-
|Top panel
|align="center"|[[File:Descent of the Buddha from the Trayastrimsa Heaven Sanchi Stupa 1 Northern Gateway.jpg|120px]]
|[[File:05 Descent to Sankasya, 3c (34342993764).jpg|thumb|120px|The same scene in the [[Greco-Buddhist art]] of [[Gandhara]].]]'''Descent of the Buddha from the [[Trayastrimsa]] Heaven at [[Sankissa]]'''. The descent of the Buddha from the [[Trayastrimsa]] Heaven, where [[Maya (mother of the Buddha)|Maya]], his mother, had been reborn and whither he himself ascended to preach the Law to her. This miracle is supposed to have taken place at [[Sankissa]] (Sankasya). In the center of the relief is the miraculous ladder by which the Buddha descended, attended by [[Brahma]] and [[Indra]]. At the top of the ladder is the tree and throne of the Buddha with the gods on either side in an attitude of adoration. Other [[Deva (Buddhism)|devas]] attend on him as he descends, among whom the one to the right of the ladder holding a [[chauri]] and [[lotus (plant)|lotus]] may be Brahma. At the foot of the ladder the tree and throne are repeated with a trio of devotees on either side, indicating that the Buddha has returned again to earth.<ref name="Marshall 56">Marshall [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 p. 56]</ref>
|-
|2nd panel
|align="center"|[[File:Departure of the Buddha from Kapilavastu Sanchi Stupa 1 Northern Gate.jpg|120px]]
|'''The Great Departure of the Buddha from [[Kapilavastu (ancient city)|Kapilavastu]]'''. A royal figure in a chariot drives forth from a city gate, with a horse in front. The scene is analogous to the scene of Buddha's departure from Kapilavastu on the East Gateway, but in that case there is no chariot, and in this case there is no umbrella above the horse to indicate the presence of the Buddha. However, a royal umbrella being held over an empty spot in the chariot would suggest the presence of the Buddha. The figure standing at its side with a water-pot (bhrihgara) in his hand indicates that a gift is being made. Alternatively, it could be King Suddhodana going forth from Kapilavastu to meet his son, the Buddha, on the occasion when he presented him with a park of mango trees.<ref name="Marshall 56" /><br />
See also [[s:The Life of Buddha/Part One/12. Siddhartha Leaves His Father's Palace|Siddhartha Leaves His Father's Palace (in "The Life of Buddha")]].
|-
|3rd panel
|align="center"|[[File:Teaching the Sakyans Sanchi Stupa 1 Northern Gateway.jpg|120px]]
|'''Teaching the [[Sakyans]]''': This panel may represent the Buddha teaching the [[Sakyans]]. It can also be interpreted in relation to the panel of the Miracle at Kapilavastu on the same pillar (Right pillar, Inner face,3rd panel). When Buddha returned to his native city of Kapilavastu, his father Suddhodana came forth with a royal retinue to meet him, and the Buddha performed his Miracle of the Walk in the Air. In this scene, on the front face of the pillar, the Buddha is probably represented in this very park with disciples and followers around him.<ref name="Marshall 56" />
|-
|4th panel
|align="center"|[[File:Broken scene Sanchi Stupa 1 Northern Gateway.jpg|120px]]
|Unidentified broken scene.
|}<noinclude>

==== Stupa 1 Eastern Gateway ====
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.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0 auto;"  align="center"  colspan="3" cellpadding="3" style="font-size: 80%; width: 100%;"
|-
|state = collapsed align=center colspan=3 style="background:#FFDAB9; font-size: 100%;"| '''[[:Commons:Category:Sanchi gateways : East gateway of stupa 1|Eastern Gateway]]'''<br />("Great Stupa" No1, Sanchi. 1st century BCE/CE.)
|-
|colspan=2 align="center"style="font-size: 100%; width: 1%;"|[[File:East Gateway - Stupa 1 - Sanchi Hill 2013-02-21 4398.JPG|250px]]
|'''The Eastern Gateway of Stupa 1'''. The Eastern Gateway of Stupa 1 is one of the four richly carved gateways or [[torana]]s, surrounding Stupa 1, the "Great Stupa". It is the third gateway to have been constructed. Like the other gateways, the Southern Gateway is composed of two square pillars surmounted by capitals, which in their turn support a superstructure of three architraves with volute ends.<ref name="Marshall 37"/>
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#DCDCDC; font-size: 100%;"| '''Architraves'''
|-
|[[File:Sanchi 6-09.jpg|120px]]
Front architraves
|[[File:Sanchi2 N-MP-220.jpg|120px]]
Rear architraves
|The architraves are all almost intact. They were crowned by two large decorated [[Shrivatsa]] symbols in the round, symbols of Buddhism (only one of them remains). The lintels have elephants mounted by [[mahout]]s, and a single seated lion, at their ends. A single remaining [[Yakshini]] (top right corner) suggests that many more have been lost.
|-
|colspan=2 align="center"|[[File:Sanchi Eastern Gateway The Great Departure.jpg|250px]]<br />
Front architrave, center
|'''The Great Departure'''. During the night, Prince [[Gautama Buddha|Siddharta]] leaves the Palace of [[Kapilavastu (ancient city)|Kapilavastu]] (far left) while his wife [[Yasodhara]], his baby [[Rahula]] and the dancers are sleeping. Siddharta rides his horse Kanthaka, who is being lifted above the ground by [[Yaksha]]s in order to keep quiet and avoid awakening the guards. The horse is seen progressing from left to right, away from the city, and progressively higher in the air. Siddharta is not visible, but a royal [[Chatra (umbrella)|chatra parasol]] is held by [[Chandaka]] in order to signify the fact that Siddharta is riding the horse. After his arrival in the forest on the right, Siddharta discards his robes, cuts off his hair and returns the horse to Chandaka. The horse is seen returning without a rider, now walking on the ground, devoid of the chatra. When Siddharta stays in the forest, he is symbolized by the two soles of his feet (extreme right). Siddharta has renounced the world.<ref>The Buddha Image: Its Origin and Development, Yuvraj Krishan, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1996 [https://books.google.com/books?id=kDyJh--iaL0C&pg=PA4 p. 4]</ref>
|-
|Central front architrave, right
|align="center"|[[File:Yakshini Sanchi Stupa 1 Eastern Gateway.jpg|120px]]
|The famous [[Yakshini]], under foliage and hanging in front of an elephant, on the side.of the East Gateway.
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#DCDCDC; font-size: 100%;"| '''Pillar capitals'''
|-
|Right capital
|align="center"|[[File:Elephants Eastern Gateway Stupa 1 Sanchi.jpg|120px]]
|The pillars of the Eastern Gateway feature elephants in the four direction, conducted by [[mahout]]s holding a Buddhist banner. They are gathered around a pillar of square section, decorated with a [[flame palmette]] design. A [[Yakshini]] under foliage flanks them on the side.
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#DCDCDC; font-size: 100%;"| '''Pillars'''
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#F5F5F5; font-size: 100%;"| '''Left pillar, Front face'''
|-
|style="width: 10%;"|Top panel
|align="center"|[[File:Chankrama Sanchi Stupa 1 Eastern Gateway Left pillar Front top panel.jpg|120px]]
|'''The Miracle of Walking in the air at Savrasti'''. While the Buddha walks in the air, devotees are aligned and look upwards. The Buddha is not visible ([[aniconism]]), and only his path ([[chankrama]]) is, separating the panel horizontally in two parts.
|-
|2nd panel
|align="center"|[[File:Pipal tree temple of Bodh Gaya depicted in Sanchi Stupa 1 Eastern Gateway.jpg|120px]]
|[[File:Diamond throne discovery.jpg|thumb|150px|The [[Diamond throne]] as discovered.]]
'''Temple for the [[Bodhi Tree]] in [[Bodh Gaya]]'''.<br />
The illumination of the Buddha occurred here under the [[Bodhi Tree]] at [[Bodh Gaya]], and Asoka built a [[Diamond throne]] at the location, as well as a temple to protect the Bodhi Tree within. Spreading through its upper windows, the branches of the sacred tree can be seen. To right and left of the temple are four figures in an attitude of adoration, perhaps the Guardian Kings of the Four Quarters ([[Lokapalas]]).<ref name="Marshall 60" />

The throne was discovered after excavations near the location of the Bodhi tree in the 19th century, and is now revered at the [[Mahabodhi Temple]] in [[Bodh Gaya]].
|-
|3rd panel
|align="center"|[[File:Miracle of the Buddha walking on a River - East Face - South Pillar - East Gateway - Stupa 1 - Sanchi.jpg|120px]]
|'''Miracle of the Buddha walking on the River [[Nairanjana]]'''. The Nairanjana river is shown in flood and [[Kasyapa]] accompanied by a disciple and a boatman are hastening in a boat to the rescue of the Buddha. Then, in the lower part of the picture, the Buddha, represented by his promenade (chahbama), appears walking on the face of the waters, and in the foreground the figures of Kasyapa and his disciple are twice repeated, now on dry ground and doing homage to the Master (represented by the throne at the right hand, bottom corner).<ref name="Marshall 60" /><br />
Throughout, The Buddha is not visible (aniconism), only represented by a path on the water, and his empty throne bottom right.<ref name="Marshall 60">Marshall [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 p. 60ff] Public Domain text</ref>
|-
|Bottom panel
|align="center"|[[File:Bimbisara with his royal cortege issuing from the city of Rajagriha to visit the Buddha.jpg|120px]]
|'''[[Bimbisara]] with his royal cortege issuing from the city of [[Rajagriha]] to visit the Buddha'''. Bimbisara with his royal cortege issuing from the city of [[Rajagriha]], on a visit to the Buddha, here symbolized by his empty throne. This visit took place after the conversion of [[Kasyapa]], which was brought about by a series of miracles, one of which is illustrated in the panel above.<ref name="Marshall 60" />
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#F5F5F5; font-size: 100%;"| '''Left pillar, Inner face'''<br />(This face is concerned with the miracles by which Buddha converted the [[Brahman]] [[Kasyapa]] and his disciples.)
|-
|Top panel
|align="center"|[[File:Visit of Indra and Brahma to the Buddha Sanchi Stupa 1 Eastern Gateway Left pillar Inner top panel.jpg|120px]]
|'''Visit of [[Indra]] and [[Brahma]] to the Buddha'''. The visit of [[Indra]] and [[Brahma]] to the Buddha takes place in the town of [[Uruvilva]]. Near the center of the panel is the throne indicating the presence of the Buddha, surmounted by the umbrella; behind it, Indra and Brahma standing in an attitude of adoration; in the background, the houses of Uruvilva and the people at their daily tasks. To the left, a man and woman, the woman grinding spices on a "cari" stone; nearby, to the right, another woman is at work at a table, while a third is pounding rice with pestle and mortar, and a fourth winnowing the grain with a fan. In the foreground is the river Nairanjana, with cattle on its banks and a woman drawing water in a pitcher. One of the villagers has his hands joined in the attitude of prayer.<ref name="Marshall 60" />
|-
|2nd panel
|align="center"|[[File:Buddha tames the Naga at Uruvela Sanchi Stupa 1 Eastern Gateway Left pillar Inner 2nd panel.jpg|120px]]
|'''Buddha tames the [[Nāga|Naga]] at [[Uruvilva]]''' This panel is about the victory of the Buddha over the serpent in the fire chapel at Uruvilva. The Buddha obtained the permission of Kasyapa to pass the night in a fire chapel at his hermitage, which was inhabited by a fearsome [[Nāga|Naga]]. The Naga attacked him with smoke and fire but was met with the same weapons, and being overcome crept into the Buddha's begging bowl. In the middle of the panel is the fire temple with a fire altar in front and a throne indicating the presence of the Buddha within, while behind the throne is the five-headed Naga. Flames are issuing from the windows in the roof. On either side of the temple are the Brahmanical ascetics standing in an attitude of respect and veneration.<br />
In the foreground, to the right, is a leaf-hut (parna-sala) and an ascetic at its threshold seated on a mat, with his knees bound up by a band and his hair (jafa) twisted turban-wise about his head. Evidently he is a Brahman doing penance. Before him is another Brahman standing and apparently reporting to him the miracle; and near by is a small fire altar and the instruments of [[Vedic]] sacrifice. To the left is the Nairanjana river, in which another ascetic is bathing and from which three young novices are drawing water.<ref name="Marshall 60" />
|-
|3rd panel
|align="center"|[[File:Miracle of fire and wood Sanchi Stupa 1 Eastern Gateway.jpg|120px]]
|'''The miracle of fire and wood'''. This is a depicting of the miracles of the wood, the fire and the offering. In the story of [[Kasyapa]]'s conversion it is related that, after the miracle of the fire temple, a sacrifice was prepared by the Brahmans, but the wood for the fire could not be split, the fire could not be made to burn, and the oblation could not be offered, until in each case the Buddha gave his consent.<br />
In the relief, this triple miracle is dramatically represented. In the foreground, to the right, a [[Brahmin]] ascetic has his axe raised to split the wood, but the axe will not descend until Buddha gives the word; then we see the axe driven home into the log. Similarly, a Brahman is engaged fanning the fire on an altar, but the fire will not burn until the Buddha permits it. Then we see the altar repeated and flames blazing upon it. The third phase of the miracle, that of the oblation, is indicated by the single figure of a Brahman holding an oblation spoon over a flaming altar.<br />
The other figures in this panel, of two novices bringing wood and provisions, are mere accessories, while the [[stupa]] in the background, decorated with shell designs and surrounded by a square railing, serves to give local color to the scene.<ref name="Marshall 60" />
|-
|Bottom panel
|align="center"|[[File:Dvarapala - North Face - South Pillar - East Gateway - Stupa 1 - Sanchi Hill 2013-02-21 4441.JPG|120px]]
|[[Dvarapala]] guardian.
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#F5F5F5; font-size: 100%;"| '''Right pillar, Inner Face'''<br />(This face of the pillar is devoted to scenes at [[Kapilavastu (ancient city)|Kapilavastu]], the birthplace of Gautama)<br />
|-
|Top panel
|align="center"|[[File:Homage of King Suddhodana Sanchi Stupa 1 Eastern Gateway Right pillar inner top panel.jpg|120px]]
|'''Homage of King [[Suddhodana]] to the Buddha'''. In the center, the tree and throne of the Buddha, with a group of worshipers around, including King Suddhodana, the father of the Buddha, who is standing immediately in front of the throne. The king wears the same headdress here as in the panel below. The episode represented is the homage paid by the King
to his son after his return to Kapilavastu.<ref name="Marshall 60" />
|-
|Second panel
|align="center"|[[File:Procession of king Suddhodana from Kapilavastu in full Sanchi Stupa 1 Eastern Gateway.jpg|120px]]
|'''Procession of king [[Suddhodana]] from [[Kapilavastu (ancient city)|Kapilavastu]]'''.
[[File:Maya's dream Sanchi Stupa 1 Eastern gateway.jpg|thumb|200px|At the top of the panel, [[Maya (mother of the Buddha)|Maya]]'s dream of the visit of an elephant, in [[Kapilavastu (ancient city)|Kapilavastu]]. See also [[s:The Life of Buddha/Part One/2. Maya's Dream|Maya's Dream (in "The life of Buddha)"]].]]
At the top is portrayed the dream of [[Maya (mother of the Buddha)|Maya]], the mother of the Buddha, otherwise called the conception of the [[Bodhisattva]]. Maya, the queen, is
seen lying in a pavilion of the palace, and on her is descending the Bodhisattva in the form of a white elephant. This scene, which was well known to all Buddhists, serves to identify the city here represented as [[Kapilavastu (ancient city)|Kapilavastu]].<br />
Below it is a royal procession threading its way through the streets of the city and issuing forth from the gate. This is the procession of King Suddhodana, when he went forth to meet his son on his return to Kapilavastu. Then, at the bottom of the panel, is portrayed the miracle which Buddha performed on this occasion by walking in mid-air; and, in the extreme
left hand bottom corner, is a [[banyan tree]] (nyagrodha) to signify the park of banyans which Suddhodana presented to his son. The Buddha walking in mid-air is represented, as on the Northern Gateway, by his promenade (chankrama); and suggested by the upturned faces of the king and his retinue as they gaze wonderingly on the miracle.<ref name="Marshall 60" />
|-
|Bottom panel
|align="center"|[[File:Dvarapala - South Face - North Pillar - East Gateway - Stupa 1 - Sanchi Hill 2013-02-21 4438.JPG|120px]]
|[[Dvarapala]] guardian.
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#F5F5F5; font-size: 100%;"| '''Right pillar, Front Face'''
|-
|Full length
|align="center"|[[File:The six inferior heavens of the Gods Sanchi Stupa 1 East Gateway Right pillar front.jpg|120px]]
|'''The six inferior heavens of the Gods'''. The six inferior heavens of the gods ([[Devaloka]]s ) or "Kamavachara heavens", in which the passions are still unsubdued, an integral part of [[Buddhist cosmology]]. Starting from the base they are as follows: (1) The heaven of the Four Great Kings: the Regents of the Four Quarters ([[Lokapala]]; [[Chaturmaharajika]]); (2) The heaven of the Thirty-three gods ([[Trayastrimisa]]) over whom [[Śakra (Buddhism)|Sakra]] presides; (3) The heaven over which [[Yama]], the God of Death, reigns, where there is no change of day or night; (4) The Tushita heaven, where the [[Bodhisattvas]] are born before they appear on earth as the saviors of mankind, and where Maitreya now resides; (5) The heaven of the [[Nirmanarati]], who create their own pleasures; (6) The heaven of the [[Parinirmita]]-[[Vasavartin]] gods, who indulge in pleasures created for them by others and over whom [[Mara (demon)|Mara]] is king.<br />
Each of these six heavens or devalokas is represented by a storey of a palace, the front of which is divided by pillars into three bays, the pillars in the alternate storeys being
either plain or provided with elaborate Persepolitan capitals. In the central bay there sits a god, like an Indian king, holding a thunderbolt ([[vajra]]) in his right hand and a flask containing nectar ([[amrita]]) in his left. Behind him are his women attendants holding the royal umbrella (muttra) and flywhisk ([[chauri]]). In the bay to his right, seated on a slightly lower seat, is his viceroy ([[uparaja]]); and to his left are the court musicians and dancers. With slight variations the same figures are repeated in each of the six heavens.
Nothing, perhaps, could give a better idea of the monotony of pleasure in the Buddhist heavens than the sameness of these reiterations.<br />
The topmost panel of all, with two figures seated on a terrace and attendants behind, is treated quite differently from the Devalokas below and appears to represent the lowest of the Brahmaloka, which according to the Buddhist ideas rise above the inferior heavens.<ref>A Guide to Sanchi, Marshall [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 p. 62ff] Public Domain text</ref>
|}<noinclude>

==== Stupa 1 Western Gateway ====
The Western Gateway of Stupa 1 is the last of the four gateway of the Great Stupa to have been built.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0 auto;"  align="center"  colspan="3" cellpadding="3" style="font-size: 80%; width: 100%;"
|-
|state = collapsed align=center colspan=3 style="background:#E9967A; font-size: 100%;"| '''[[:Commons:Category:Sanchi gateways : West gateway of stupa 1|Western Gateway]]'''<br />("Great Stupa" No1, Sanchi, 1st century BCE/CE.)
|-
|colspan=2 align="center"style="font-size: 100%; width: 1%;"|[[File:Sanchi portique ouest.jpg|250px]][[File:Sanchi_Stupa_gateway.jpg|center|thumb|462x462px|Western gateway of Stupa I at Sanchi Stupa]]
|'''The Western Gateway of Stupa 1'''. The Western Gateway of Stupa 1 is one of the four richly carved gateways or [[torana]]s, surrounding Stupa 1, the "Great Stupa". It is the last of the four gateway to have been constructed.
Like the other gateways, the Western Gateway is composed of two square pillars surmounted by capitals, which in their turn support a superstructure of three architraves with volute ends.<ref name="Marshall 37"/>  
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#DCDCDC; font-size: 100%;"| '''Architraves'''
|-
|align=center|[[File:West Torana, Sanchi 03.jpg|120px]]
Front architraves
|align=center|[[File:Upper part of the gateway at Sanchi Stupa.jpg|120px]]
Rear architraves
||The architraves are all almost intact, but there are almost no remains of "in the round" decorations around or on top of the lintels. Only remains a fragment of [[capital (architecture)|capital]] with a base composed of lions, at the center top of the [[torana]].
|-
|colspan=2 align="center"|[[File:King of the Mallas bringing the relics of the Buddha to Kushinagara.jpg|250px]]
Rear top architrave
|'''Ruler of the [[Malla (tribe)|Mallaka]]s bringing the relics of the Buddha to [[Kushinagara]]'''. After the death of the Buddha his relics were taken possession of by the [[Malla (tribe)|Mallaka]]s of [[Kushinagara]], whose chief is here depicted riding on an elephant and bearing the relics into the town of Kusinagara on his own head. The tree behind the throne in front of the city gate appears to be a [[Shala tree]] ( shorea robusta ), and to refer to the fact that Buddha's [[parinirvana]] took place in a grove of those trees. The two groups of figures carrying banners and offerings, which occupy the ends of this architrave, are probably connected with the central scene, serving to indicate the rejoicing of the Mallakas over the possession of the relics.<ref name="Marshall 68" />
|-
|colspan=2 align="center"|[[File:Siege of Kushinagara by the seven kings.jpg|250px]]
Rear middle architrave
|[[File:King of the Mallas under siege.jpg|thumb|120px|Ruler of the [[Malla (tribe)|Mallaka]]s of [[Kushinagara]] under siege (left end of the architrave).]]
'''Siege of [[Kushinagara]] by the seven kings.''' This is another portrayal of "The war of the relics" (see Southern Gateway architrave). Here the seven rival claimants, distinguished by their seven royal umbrellas, are advancing with their armies to the city of [[Kushinagara]], the siege of which has not yet begun. The seated chiefly figure at the left end of
the architrave may represent the chief of the [[Malla (tribe)|Mallaka]]s within the city. The princely figures in the corresponding relief at the right end appear to be repetitions of some of the rival claimants.<ref name="Marshall 68" />
|-
|colspan=2 align="center"|[[File:Temptation of the Buddha with Mara's army fleeing.jpg|250px]]
Rear bottom architrave
|'''Temptation of the Buddha with [[Mara (demon)|Mara]]'s army fleeing.''' This scene extends over the three sections of the architrave, In the center is the temple of [[Bodh Gaya]] with the [[pipal tree]] and the throne of the Buddha within; to the right, the armies of [[Mara (demon)|Mara]] fleeing discomfited from the Buddha; to the left, the devas celebrating the victory of the Buddha over the Evil One and exalting his glorious achievements. The temple at Bodh Gaya, which enclosed the [[Bodhi tree]], was built two centuries later by Emperor [[Ashoka]]. Its portrayal in this scene, therefore, is an anachronism.<ref name="Marshall 68" /><br />
{{See also|s:The Life of Buddha/Part One/20. Siddhartha Becomes the Buddha|l1=Siddhartha Becomes the Buddha (in "The Life of Buddha")}}
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#DCDCDC; font-size: 100%;"| '''Pillar capitals'''
|-
|[[File:Dwarfs - West Face - North Pillar - West Gateway - Stupa 1 - Sanchi Hill 2013-02-21 4326.JPG|120px]]
Left
|[[File:Dwarfs - West Face - South Pillar - West Gateway - Stupa 1 - Sanchi Hill 2013-02-21 4322.JPG|120px]]
Right
|The pillar capitals consist in groups of four [[Yaksha]]s (tectonic deities) supporting the architraves.
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#DCDCDC; font-size: 100%;"| '''Pillars'''
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#F5F5F5; font-size: 100%;"| '''Left pillar, Front face'''
|-
|style="width: 10%;"|Unique panel
|align="center"|[[File:Scenes of Enjoyments - West Face - North Pillar - West Gateway - Stupa 1 - Sanchi.jpg|120px]]
|'''Paradise of Indra'''. Probably the "Paradise of [[Indra]]" (nandana) with the river [[Mandakini River|Mandakini]] in the foreground. This can be related to the scenes on the North Gateway and on the small gateway of the Third Stupa.<ref name="Marshall 68" />
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#F5F5F5; font-size: 100%;"| '''Left pillar, Inner face'''
|-
|Top panel
|align="center"|[[File:Syama Jataka Sanchi Stupa 1Western Gateway.jpg|120px]]
|'''[[Syama Jataka]]''' Syama, the Buddha in a previous life, was the only son of a blind hermit and his wife, whom he supports with devotion. One day, Syama goes to draw water at the river and is shot with an arrow by the King of [[Kāśī (kingdom)|Benaras]], who is out hunting. Owing to the king's penitence and his parents' sorrow [[Indra]] intervenes and allows Syama to be healed and his parents' sight to be restored. At the right hand top corner of the panel arc the two hermitages with the father and mother seated in front of them. Below them their son Syama is coming to draw water from the stream. Then, to the left, we see the figure of the King thrice repeated, first shooting the lad in the water, then with bow in hand, then standing penitent with bow and arrow discarded; and in the left top corner are the father, mother and son restored to health, and by their side the god Indra and the king. The Buddha in a previous life was thus given as an example of [[filial piety]].<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 Marshall]</ref>
|-
|2nd panel
|align="center"|[[File:Enlightenment of the Buddha with the Nagas rejoincing.jpg|120px]]
|'''Enlightenment of the Buddha with the [[Nāga|Nagas]] rejoincing'''. The scene depicts the enlightenment (sambodhi ) of the Buddha. In the center is the throne of the Buddha beneath the [[pipal tree]], which is being garlanded by divine musicians ([[gandharvas]]); round about are the [[Nāga|Nagas]] and Nagis celebrating the victory of the Buddha over [[Mara (demon)|Mara]].<ref name="p.73">Marshall [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 p. 73]</ref><br />See also: [[s:The Life of Buddha/Part One/20. Siddhartha Becomes the Buddha|Siddhartha Becomes the Buddha (in "The Life of Buddha")]].
|-
|Bottom panel
|align="center"|[[File:Miraculous crossing of the Ganges by the Buddha when he left Rajagriha to visit Vaisali.jpg|120px]]
|[[File:Maisey Sanchi relief.jpg|thumb|120px|Full relief.<ref name="Maisey" />]]
'''Miraculous crossing of the [[Ganges]] by the Buddha when he left [[Rajagriha]] to visit [[Vaisali]]''' (partial remain). Only the upper part of this panel remains, but it appears to depict the miraculous crossing of the Ganges by the Buddha when he left [[Rajagriha]] to visit [[Vaisali]].<br />
The lower part of the panel appears to have been cut away, when the gateway was restored by Col. Cole. The panel is shown complete in Maisey's illustration in ''Sanchi and its remains'' (Plaque XXI)<ref name="Maisey">Maisey, ''Sanchi and its remains'', [https://archive.org/details/cu31924095909390 Plaque XXI]</ref>
<ref name="p.73"/><br />See also: [[s:The Life of Buddha/Part Three/16. The Buddha Instructs the Monks of Vaisali|The Buddha Instructs the Monks of Vaisali (in "The Life of Buddha")]]
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#F5F5F5; font-size: 100%;"| '''Right pillar, Inner Face'''
|-
|Top panel
|align="center"|[[File:Temptation and enlightenment of the Buddha.jpg|120px]]
|'''Enlightenment of the Buddha with [[Mara (demon)|Mara]]'s army fleeing'''. The enlightenment ([[sambodhi]]) of the Buddha. Towards the top of the panel is the [[pipal tree]] and the throne of the Buddha, and round them a throng of worshipers, men and women, gods and animals. It is the moment after the discomfiture of [[Mara (demon)|Mara]] and his hosts. The [[Nāga|Nagas]], winged creatures, angels and archangels, each urging his comrades on, went up to the Great Being at the [[Bodhi tree]]'s foot and as they came they shouted for joy that the sage had won; that the Tempter was overthrown.<br />
The deva with the giant head, riding either on the elephant or on the lion to the right of the panel, is probably meant to be [[Indra]] or [[Brahma]]. The interpretation of the three sorrowing figures standing on three sides of the throne in the foreground is problematical. In the Mahabhinishkramana scene on the East Gateway we have already seen that the artist inserted a [[jambul|jambu]] tree in the middle of the panel, to remind the spectator of the first meditation of the Bodhisattva and the path on which it led him. So, here, these three figures, which are strikingly similar to the three sorrowing Yakshas in the Mahdbhinishkramana scene and were probably executed by the same hand, may be a reminder of the Great Renunciation which led to the attainment of Buddhahood, the gateway behind being also a reminder of the gateway of [[Kapilavastu (ancient city)|Kapilavastu]].<ref name="Marshall 68">Marshall "A Guide to Sanchi" [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 p. 68ff] Public Domain text</ref><br />See also: [[s:The Life of Buddha/Part One/20. Siddhartha Becomes the Buddha|Siddhartha Becomes the Buddha (in "The Life of Buddha")]].
|-
|Second panel
|align="center"|[[File:The Gods entreating Buddha to preach Sanchi Stupa 1 Western Gateway right pillar Inner panel No2.jpg|120px]]
|'''The Gods entreating Buddha to preach'''. The gods entreating the Buddha to preach. The Buddhist scriptures tell us that after his enlightenment the Buddha hesitated to make known the truth to the world. Then [[Brahma]], [[Indra]], the four [[Lokapalas]] (Regents of the Four Quarters) and the archangels of the heavens approached him and besought him to turn the Wheel of the Law. It was when the Buddha was seated beneath the banyan tree (nyagrodha) shortly after his enlightenment, that this entreaty was made, and it is a banyan tree with the throne beneath that is depicted in this relief. The four figures side by side in the foreground may be the four Lokapalas.<ref name="Marshall 68" /><br />See also: [[s:The Life of Buddha/Part Two/2. The Buddha is Prepared to Preach the Doctrine|The Buddha is Prepared to Preach the Doctrine (in "The Life of Buddha")]].
|-
|Bottom panel
|align="center"|[[File:Dvarapala Sanchi Stupa 1 Western Gateway.jpg|120px]]
|[[Dvarapala]] guardian.
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#F5F5F5; font-size: 100%;"| '''Right pillar, Front Face'''
|-
|Top panel
|align="center"|[[File:Mahakapi Jataka.jpg|120px]]
|'''[[Mahakapi Jataka]]'''. The story runs that the [[Bodhisattva]] was born as a monkey, ruler over 80,000 monkeys. They lived at a spot near the [[Ganges]] and ate of the fruit of a great [[mango tree]]. King [[Brahmadatta]] of [[Benares]], desiring to possess the mangoes, surrounded the tree with his soldiers, in order to kill the animals, but the Bodhisattva formed a bridge over the stream with his own body and by this means enabled the whole tribe to escape into safety.<br />
[[File:Mahakapi Jataka in Bharhut.jpg|120px|thumb|The Mahakapi Jataka in [[Bharhut]].]]
[[Devadatta]], the jealous and wicked cousin of the Buddha, was in that life one of the monkeys and, thinking it a good chance to destroy his enemy, jumped on the Bodhisattva's back and broke his heart. The king, seeing the good deed of the Bodhisattva and repenting of his own attempt to kill him, tended him with great care when he was dying and
afterwards gave him royal obsequies.<br />
Down the panel of the relief flows, from top to bottom, the river Ganges. To the left, at the top, is the great mango tree to which two monkeys are clinging, while the king of the monkeys is stretched across the river from the mango tree to the opposite bank, and over his body some monkeys have already escaped to the rocks and jungles beyond. In
the lower part of the panel, to the left, is king Brahmadatta on horseback with his soldiers, one of whom with bow and arrow is aiming upwards at the Bodhisattva. Higher up the panel the figure of the king is repeated, sitting beneath the mango tree and conversing with the dying Bodhisattva, who, according to the Jataka story, gave the king good advice on the duties of a chief.<ref name="Marshall 68" />
|-
|2nd panel
|align="center"|[[File:The Bodhisattva preaching in the Tushita Heaven Sanchi Stupa 1 Western Gateway Right pillar Front second panel.jpg|120px]]
|'''The [[Bodhisattva]] preaching in the [[Tushita]] Heaven'''. In the center of the panel is the tree and throne of the Buddha, and round about the throne a company of gods standing upon clouds in attitudes of adoration. At the top of the panel are [[gandharvas]] bringing garlands and below them, on each side of the
tree, come [[Indra]] and [[Brahma]], riding on lion-like creatures. A conventional method is used to depict the clouds beneath the feet of the gods in the foreground and among the figures in the upper part of the panel. They have the appearance almost of rocks with flames breaking from them.<ref name="Marshall 68" />
|-
|3rd panel
|align="center"|[[File:Visit of Sakra Sanchi Western Gateway Right Pillar 3rd Front panel.jpg|120px]]
|'''The visit of Sakra'''. The Buddha, represented by his throne, beneath a flowery tree with hills and jungle around. Possibly the tree is the [[Buchanania latifolia|rajayatana]] tree at [[Bodh Gaya]], beneath which the Buddha sat shortly after his enlightenment. The figures in the foreground adoring the Buddha appear to be [[Deva (Buddhism)|devas]].<ref name="Marshall 68" />
|-
|4th panel
|align="center"|[[File:Sanchi - lions.JPG|120px]]
|'''Heraldic lions'''. Three heraldic lions standing on conventionalized floral device. The turn in the upper leaves is peculiar. This method of treating foliage is peculiar to the Early School and is never found in later work. The inscription over this panel records that the pillar was a gift of Balamitra, pupil of Ayachuda (Arya-kshudra).<ref name="Marshall 68" />
|}<noinclude>

==== Stupa 3 Southern Gateway ====
The gateway of Stupa No 3, is the last of all the [[Satavahana]] gateways 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.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0 auto;"  align="center"  colspan="3" cellpadding="3" style="font-size: 80%; width: 100%;"
|-
|state = collapsed align=center colspan=3 style="background:#90EE90; font-size: 100%;"| '''[[:Commons:Category:Sanchi gateways : South gateway of stupa 3|Southern Gateway]]'''<br />(Stupa No 3, Sanchi. 1st century CE.)
|-
|colspan=2 align="center"style="font-size: 100%; width: 1%;"|[[File:Sanchi Stupa No.2 Front view1.jpg|240px]]
|The gateway of Stupa No 3, 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. This gateway stands 17 feet high, and is adorned with reliefs in the same style as those on the gateways of the Great Stupa. Indeed, the majority of these reliefs are mere repetitions of the subjects and scenes portrayed on the larger gateways, with a few exceptions, especially the front face of the lowest architrave.<ref name="Marshall 83">Marshall, " A Guide to Sanchi" [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 p. 83] Public Domain text</ref>
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#DCDCDC; font-size: 100%;"| '''Architraves'''
|-
|colspan=2 align="center"|Front architraves<br />[[File:Stupa 3 front architraves.jpg|240px]]
|Architrave posts, or "false capitals", are roughly square-shaped and can be seen at the junction between architrave and pillar, and between the architraves themselves. Here, there are nine of them altogether on just the surface of the front architraves.
<gallery>
File:Torana of Stupa 3 in Sanchi Foreigner fighting a Makara.jpg|Foreign heroe fighting a [[Makara (Hindu mythology)|Makara]]
Stupa 3 front architrave bottom panel right post.jpg|Hero with headband wrestling a Makara.
File:Torana of Stupa 3 in Sanchi Foreign riders.jpg|Foreigners riding horses.
File:Stupa 3 front architraves middle panel right post.jpg|Indians riding horses.
File:Stupa 3 front architraves top panel left post.jpg|Indians riding bulls.
File:Stupa 3 front architraves top panel right post.jpg|Indians riding bulls.
File:059 Queen Maya lustrated by Elephants (33364982300).jpg|Queen Maya lustrated by Elephants.
File:024 Buddha represented by Dharmacakra (32936540413).jpg|The Buddha represented by the [[Dharmacakra]].
File:025 Bodhi Tree (32936538733).jpg|Bodhi Tree.
</gallery>
|-
|colspan=2 align="center"|[[File:Stupa 3 front architraves top panel.jpg|240px]]
Top front architrave
|[[File:GandharaScrolls.JPG|thumb|Floral scrolls in the art of Gandhara.]]
Genies among foliage forming scrolls. This kind of scrolls are generally considered to be of [[Hellenistic art|Hellenistic]] origin, and were to be used extensively in the [[Greco-Buddhist art]] of [[Gandhara]] as well.<ref>Buddhist Art in India, Ceylon, and Java, Jean Philippe Vogel, Adriaan Jacob Barnouw, Asian Educational Services, 1936 [https://books.google.com/books?id=wQ2x0cbZkn0C&pg=PA41 p. 41]</ref><ref>The Goose in Indian Literature and Art, Brill Archive [https://books.google.com/books?id=PMsUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA58 p. 58]</ref>
|-
|colspan=2 align="center"|[[File:Stupa 3 front architrave middle panel.jpg|240px]]
Middle front architrave
|Buddhas represented by a [[Chaitya]] and two [[Bodhi Tree]]s and empty thrones.
|-
|colspan=2 align="center"|[[File:019 Nandanavana with Indra (32936548653).jpg|240px]]
Bottom front architrave
|The only scene which differs materially from those on the gateways of the Great Stupa is the one delineated on the front face of the lowest architrave, which appears to represent the Heaven of [[Indra]] (Nandanavana). In the centre is the pavilion of the god, with Indra himself seated on a throne surrounded by women attendants. In the foreground is the river MandakinI, which bounds the heaven of Indra, and to right and left of the pavilion are mountains and jungle forming a pleasure-garden for the gods and demigods who are taking their case therein.<br />Then, in the corners next to the false capitals, are [[Nāga|Naga]] kings seated with their attendants on the folds of seven-hooded Nagas, whose coils mingled with the waters of the river are carried through to the ends of the architrave, and go to form the spirals adorning its extremities. The sea monsters ([[Makara Guardians|Makaras]]) and the heroes wrestling with them, which are portrayed on the false capitals of this architrave, are particularly appropriate in this position, where their coils combine effectively with those of the Nagas.<ref name="Marshall 83" />
|-
|colspan=2 align=center|Rear architraves<br />[[File:Stupa 3 rear architraves.jpg|240px]]<br />
|Ordered left to right, from top to bottom:
<gallery>
File:046 Lion (33593460712).jpg|Winged lion.
File:047 Lions (33365000720).jpg|Winged lions.
File:057 Buddha represented by Dharmacakra (33749746625).jpg|The Buddha represented by the [[Dharmacakra]].
File:051 Men and Women on Elephants (33364997340).jpg|Men and Women on Elephants.
File:052 Men and Women on Elephants (33364996150).jpg|Men and Women on Elephants.
File:062 Stupa representing a Buddha (33620520931).jpg|[[Stupa]] representing a Buddha.
File:027 Lakshmi lustrated by Elephants (32936535203).jpg|[[Lakshmi]] lustrated by Elephants.
File:056 Men on Lions (33749747015).jpg|Men on lions.
File:026 Men on Lions (33593372572).jpg|Men on lions.
</gallery>
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#DCDCDC; font-size: 100%;"| '''Pillar capitals'''
|-
|[[File:Stupa 3 Left pillar capital.jpg|110px]]
Left
|[[File:Stupa 3 Right pillar capital.jpg|110px]]
Right
|The pillar capitals consist in groups of four [[Yaksha]]s (tectonic deities) supporting the architraves. This choice is similar to the last of the gateways of the Great Stupa, the Western Gateway.
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#DCDCDC; font-size: 100%;"| '''Pillars'''
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#F5F5F5; font-size: 100%;"| '''Left pillar, Front face'''
|-
|colspan=2 align="center"|[[File:Stupa 3 Adoration of a Stupa Sanchi South Gateway Left pillar top panel.jpg|Adoration of a Stupa.|150px]]
|The variety and the detail of the pillar panels is much less than at the Great Stupa. Here the first panel shows the adoration of a stupa by four Indian devotees. Then, other devotees simply line up in the second and the third panels below.
<gallery>
File:Stupa 3 Left pillar front second panel.jpg|2nd panel
File:Stupa 3 Left pillar front third panel.jpg|3rd panel
</gallery>
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#F5F5F5; font-size: 100%;"| '''Left pillar, Inner face'''
|-
|colspan=2 align=center|[[File:041 Worshipping the Bodhi Tree (32906630124).jpg|150px]]
Top panel.
|Worshipping the Bodhi Tree. This classic and rather simply depicted scene is again the unique didactic scene on this face of the pillar. The following panel in only composed of aligned devotee, and at the bottom is a panel with [[Dvarapala]] guardian deity as seen on the other gateways, or possibly a devotee, as he seems not to be armed.
<gallery>
File:042 Devotees Worshipping (33709076186).jpg|Second panel
043 Devotee (33709073556).jpg|Bottom panel [[Dvarapala]] guardian deity or devotee.
</gallery>
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#F5F5F5; font-size: 100%;"| '''Left pillar, Rear face'''
|-
|colspan=2 align=center|[[File:063 Dharmacakra on Pillar (33620519361).jpg|150px]]
Top panel.
|Uncharacteristically, the rear panel of the left pillar of the gateway is fully decorated, down to its bottom. This can be explained by the fact that the stupa is not surrounded by a railing as in the Great Stupa, therefore rendering this rear space free. The right pillar of the gateway however does not have decoration on the back. The top panel is the [[Dharmacakra]] on a Pillar.
<gallery>
File:064 Worshipping the Bodhi Tree (33620517001).jpg|Second panel
File:Stupa 3 Left pillar rear Bottom panel.jpg|Possibly demons, or the attack of [[Mara (demon)|Mara]].
</gallery>
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#F5F5F5; font-size: 100%;"| '''Right pillar, Inner Face'''
|-
|colspan=2 align=center|[[File:037 Worshipping the Bodhi Tree (32936624133).jpg|150px]]
Top panel.
|Worshipping the Bodhi Tree. This classic and rather simply depicted scene is again the unique didactic scene on this face of the pillar. It even faces a similar "Worshipping the Bodhi Tree" scene on the pillar surface facing it across the entrance. The next panel going down is only composed of aligned devotees, and at the bottom is a panel with [[Dvarapala]] guardian deity as seen on the other gateways, or possibly a devotee, as he seems not to be armed.
<gallery>
File:038 Devotees Worshipping (32906635894).jpg|Second panel
File:039 Devotee (33749765915).jpg|Bottom panel [[Dvarapala]] guardian deity or devotee.
</gallery>
|-
|align=center colspan=3 style="background:#F5F5F5; font-size: 100%;"| '''Right pillar, Front Face'''
|-
|colspan=2 align="center"|[[File:Adoration of the pillar of Ashoka Sanchi Stupa 3 South Gateway Right pillar top panel.jpg|Adoration of the pillar of [[Ashoka]].|150px]]
|[[File:Sanchi capital right side view.jpg|thumb|100px|This would be the [[Ashoka]]n capital (wheel lost) depicted in this panel.]]
Again variety and the detail of the pillar panels is much less than at the Great Stupa. The first panel however is extremely interesting, as it shows the adoration of what looks like the pillar of Ashoka at the Southern Gateway of the Great Stupa. Then other devotees simply line up in the second and the third panels below.
<gallery>
File:Stupa 3 Right pillar front second panel.jpg|2nd panel
File:Stupa 3 Right pillar front third panel.jpg|3rd panel
</gallery>
|}<noinclude>

== Later periods ==
[[File:Stupas and monasteries at Sanchi in the early centuries of the Christian era.jpg|thumb|300px|Stupas and monasteries at Sanchi in the early centuries of the Common Era. Reconstruction, 1900]]
Further stupas and other religious Buddhist structures were added over the centuries until the 12th century CE.

===Western Satraps===
The rule of the Satavahanas in the area Sanchi during the 1st centuries BCE/CE is well attested by the finds of Satavahana copper coins in [[Vidisha]], [[Ujjain]] and [[Eran]] in the name of [[Satakarni]], as well as the Satakarni inscription on the Southern Gateway of Stupa No.1.<ref name="Shaw 58" />

Soon after, however, the region fell to the [[Indo-Scythians|Scythian]] [[Western Satraps]], possibly under [[Nahapana]] (120 CE),<ref>Indian Numismatic Studies by K. D. Bajpai [https://books.google.com/books?id=chGrJUMarHoC&pg=PA100 p. 100]</ref> and then certainly under [[Rudradaman I]] (130-150 CE), as shown by his inscriptions in [[Junagadh]].<ref name="Shaw 58" /> The Satavahanas probably regained the region for some time, but were again replaced by the Western Satraps in the mid-3rd century CE, during the rule of [[Rudrasena II (Western Satrap)|Rudrasena II]] (255-278 CE). The Western Satraps remained well into the 4th century as shown by the nearby [[Kanakerha inscription]] mentioning the construction of a well by the Saka chief and "righteous conqueror" [[Sridharavarman]], who ruled {{Circa|339|368 CE}}.<ref name="Shaw 58">Buddhist Landscapes in Central India: Sanchi Hill and Archaeologies of Religious and Social Change, c. Third Century BC to Fifth Century AD, Julia Shaw, Routledge, 2016 [https://books.google.com/books?id=IUbUDAAAQBAJ&pg=PR58 pp. 58-59]</ref> Therefore, it seems that the [[Kushan Empire]] did not extend to the Sanchi area, and the few Kushan works of art found in Sanchi appear to have come from [[Mathura]].<ref name="Shaw 58" /> In particular, a few Mathura statues in the name of the Kushan ruler [[Vasishka]] (247-267 CE) were found in Sanchi.<ref name="S7">{{cite book |last1=Mitra |first1=Debala |title=Sanchi |date=2001 |publisher=Archeological Survey of India |page=[https://archive.org/details/sanchi00mitr/page/7 7] Note 1 |isbn=9788187780182 |url=https://archive.org/details/sanchi00mitr}}</ref><ref name="CAT29">{{cite book |last1=Kuraishi |first1=Mohammad Hamid |last2=Kak |first2=Ram Chandra |last3=Chanda |first3=Ramaprasad |last4=Marshall |first4=John Hubert |title=Catalogue of the Museum of Archaeology at Sanchi, Bhopal State |date=1922 |publisher=Calcutta, Superintendent Government Printing, India |pages=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924023945110/page/n36 29]–32 |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924023945110}}</ref>

===Guptas===
The next rulers of the area were the Guptas.<ref name="Shaw 58" /> Inscriptions of a victorious [[Chandragupta II]] in the year 412-423 CE can be found on the railing near the Eastern Gateway of the Great Stupa.<ref>Marshall, The Monuments of India [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.532798 p. 388]</ref> 

[[File:Sanchi, inscription of Chandragupta II.jpg|thumb|left|100px|[[Sanchi inscription of Chandragupta II]].]]
[[File:Sanchi temple 17.jpg|thumb|Temple 17: a [[Gupta period]] [[tetrastyle]] [[prostyle]] temple of [[Classical architecture|Classical]] appearance. 5th century CE<ref name="books.google.com">[https://books.google.com/books?id=CyLiDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT283 2500 Years of Buddhism by P.V. Bapat, p. 283]</ref>]]
{{blockquote|"The glorious Chandragupta (II), (...) who proclaims in the world the good behaviour of the excellent people, namely, the dependents (of the king), and who has acquired banners of victory and fame in many battles"|[[Sanchi inscription of Chandragupta II]], 412-413 CE.<ref>Marshall, The Monuments of India [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.532798 p. 388 inscription 833]</ref>}}

Temple 17 is an early stand-alone [[temple]] (following the great cave temples of [[Indian rock-cut architecture]]), as it dates to the early [[Gupta Empire|Gupta]] period (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 in [[Hindu temple architecture]].<ref>Rowland, 219-220; Harle, 111; Michell (1988), 94</ref> 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,<ref name="books.google.com"/> not unlike the 2nd century rock-cut cave temples of the [[Nasik Caves]]. The four columns are more traditional, the octagonal shafts rising from square bases to bell capitals, surmounted by large [[Abacus (architecture)|abacus]] blocks carved with back-to-back lions.<ref>Rowland, 219-220</ref>

Next to Temple 17 stands Temple 18, the framework of a mostly 7th-century apsidal [[chaitya]]-hall temple, again perhaps Buddhist or Hindu, that was rebuilt over an earlier hall. This was probably covered by a wood and thatch roof.<ref>Rowland, 219; Michell (1990), 185</ref>

Near the Northwern Gateway also used to stand a [[Vajrapani]] pillar. Another pillar of [[Padmapani]] used to stand, and [[:File:WLA vanda The Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara.jpg|the statue]] is now in the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]], [[London]].

=== Lion pillar No 26 ===
[[File:Pillar 26 capital at Sanchi.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Pillar 26: one of the two four-lions [[stambha]] capitals at Sanchi, with lions, central [[flame palmette]] and [[Wheel of Law]] (axis, stubs of the spokes and part of the circumference only), initially located at the Northern Gateway of the Great Stupa. [[Sanchi Archaeological Museum]].]]
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 the [[Udayagiri Caves|Udayagiri 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&nbsp;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 crowning [[chakra]]. 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 a ''viharasvamin'' (master of a monastery), the son of Gotaisimhabala.<ref name="Marshall 96" />

[[File:Sanchi lion and wheel pillar by Cunningham.jpg|thumb|upright|Pillar 26: lion pillar capital at time of discovery, with [[Dharmachakra]] wheel (reconstruction). Northern Gateway.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cunningham |first1=Alexander |title=Report of Tours in Bundelkhand and Malwa in 1874-75 and 1876-77 |date=1 January 1880 |publisher=Archaeological Survey of India |page=Plate XXI |doi=10.5281/zenodo.3930384 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/3930384}}</ref>]]
As was usual with pillars of the Gupta age, the square base projected above the ground level, the projection in this case being 1&nbsp;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 circular [[abacus (architecture)|abacus]], 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.<ref name="Marshall 96">Marshall "A Guide to Sanchi" [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 p. 96 Pillar 26]. Public Domain text</ref>

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 early [[Gupta Empire]] in convincing terms, either from the points of view of material, technique or artistry.<ref name="Marshall 96" /> The Government of India Photo Division describes it in [[:File:Sanchi Ashoka pillar and capital cropped.jpg|this image]] as "An Asoka pillar and its broken lion capital near the south gateway of the Great Stupa." [http://photodivision.gov.in/IntroPhotodetails.asp?thisPage=972]. The British Library Online also describes it as 3rd century BCE Mauryan, although probably pasting the original text from the 19th century [http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/photocoll/p/019pho000001003u01359000.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420154220/http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/photocoll/p/019pho000001003u01359000.html |date=20 April 2021 }}. Sachim Kumar Tiwary in ''Monolithic Pillars of The Gupta Period'', affirms a Gupta date.<ref>Sachim Kumar Tiwary in ''Monolithic Pillars of The Gupta Period'' B.R. Publishing Corporation 2014 [http://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/details/monolithic-pillars-of-gupta-period-NAL701/ p. 92], [http://www.exoticindiaart.com/books-2015/nal701i.jpg page scan]</ref> The [[Sanchi Archaeological Museum]] gives it a date of 600 CE, which would even put it beyond the Gupta period proper, at the time of the [[Later Gupta dynasty]].<ref>[[Sanchi Archaeological Museum]] website notice [http://www.museumsanchiasi.mp.gov.in/sculptures/gallery1/lion_capital.html]</ref>

=== Pillar 35 ===
[[File:Vajrapani Pillar - Pillar 35 - Buddhist Monuments - Sanchi Hill 2013-02-21 4288.JPG|thumb|upright|left|Pillar 35 column stump (right), and bell capital with [[abacus (architecture)|abacus]], positioned upside down.]]
[[File:Sanchi Pillar 35 Vajrapani statue.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Vajrapani]] statue of pillar 35, 5th c. CE. [[Sanchi Archaeological Museum]].]]
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&nbsp;ft. in length, 3&nbsp;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.<ref name="Marshall 97">Marshall "A Guide to Sanchi" [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.459148 p. 97 Pillar 35]. Public Domain text</ref>

The [[Persepolitan]] [[capital (architecture)|capital]] and square [[abacus]] ornamented 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 a [[dhoti]] and 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.<ref name="Marshall 97" /> It is thought that the statue represents [[Vajrapani]]. The attribution to Vajrapani is indicated by the stub of a [[vajra]] thunderbold in the right hand and a halo of 24 rays.<ref>Great Monuments of India, DK [https://books.google.com/books?id=oXa60HtlNOYC&pg=PA41 p. 41]</ref> The dedication of the Vajrapani pillar is also mentioned in a 5th-century inscription.<ref>Malwa Through The Ages, by Kailash Chand Jain [https://books.google.com/books?id=_3O7q7cU7k0C&pg=PA277 p. 277]</ref>

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.<ref name="Marshall 97" /> The statue is currently in the [[Sanchi Archaeological Museum]] and is attributed to the 5th century CE.<ref>"Buddhist Landscapes in Central India: Sanchi Hill and Archaeologies of Religious and Social Change, c. Third Century BC to Fifth Century AD", Julia Shaw, Routledge, 2016 [https://books.google.com/books?id=IUbUDAAAQBAJ&pg=PP20 p. 20]</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0 auto;"  align="center"  colspan="1" cellpadding="3" style="font-size: 80%; width: 100%;"
|-
|state = collapsed align=center colspan=1 style="background:#F4A460; font-size: 100%;"| '''Gupta period remains'''
|-
|<gallery mode="packed">
File:A Seated Buddha statue (Gupta temple).JPG|A Seated Buddha statue (Gupta temple).
File:Buddha Statue, Sanchi Stupa, Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh.jpg|Buddha Statue (Great Stupa).
File:Sanchi Sculpture 5.jpg|Seated Buddha (Great Stupa).
File:WLA vanda The Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara.jpg|Statue of [[Padmapani]] (5th c.or 9th c.) [[Victoria and Albert Museum]].
File:Sanchi pillar with single lion.jpg|Pillar 34 with lion.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.532798 Marshall p. 52 Pillar 34]</ref>
File:Pillar capital fragment Sanchi Stupa 1.jpg|The winged lion capital of pillar 34 (lost).
</gallery>
|}
Following the destruction of the Guptas by the [[Alchon Huns]], and with the [[decline of Buddhism in India]], Buddhist artistic creation at Sanchi slowed down.

[[File:Temple 18, Sanchi.jpg|thumb|Temple 18 at Sanchi, an [[apsidal]] hall with [[Maurya]] foundations, rebuilt at the time of [[Harsha]] (7th century CE).]]
[[:File:Sanchi (Ruins of Gupta Temple).JPG|Temple 45]] was the last Buddhist temple built during the mid to late 9th century.<ref>[http://orca.cf.ac.uk/54362/1/U584463.pdf Reconstructing a Latina Temple Spire: Temple 45, Sanchi, Dissertation submitted to Cardiff University, Fiona Buckee, 2010]</ref> Another point to be noted is that at that time the monuments were enclosed within a wall.

With the decline of [[Buddhism]] in 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 the [[Muslim]] conquerors who had destroyed the nearby city of [[Vidisha]] ([[Bhilsa]]) only 5 miles away.<ref>Ornament in Indian Architecture, Margaret Prosser Allen, University of Delaware Press, 1991 [https://books.google.com/books?id=vyXxEX5PQH8C&pg=PA18 p. 18]</ref>

== Sanchi and the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara ==
Although the initial craftsmen for stone reliefs in Sanchi seem to have come from [[Gandhara]], with the first reliefs being carved at [[Sanchi Stupa No.2]] circa 115 BCE,<ref name="AG" /> the art of Sanchi thereafter developed considerably in the 1st century BCE/CE and is thought to predate the blooming of the [[Greco-Buddhist art]] of [[Gandhara]], 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 of [[Buddhist art]] that would follow, such as the art of Gandhara.<ref name="Bell">Didactic Narration: Jataka Iconography in Dunhuang with a Catalogue of Jataka Representations in China, Alexander Peter Bell, LIT Verlag Münster, 2000 [https://books.google.com/books?id=77hHrXX4COgC&pg=PA31 p. 31ff]</ref> It is also, with [[Bharhut]], the oldest.<ref>Asoka, Mookerji Radhakumud, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1962 [https://books.google.com/books?id=uXyftdtE1ygC&pg=PA204 p. 204]</ref>

As didactic Buddhist reliefs were adopted by Gandhara, the content evolved somewhat together with the emergence of [[Mahayana 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 the [[Bodhisattvas]] of the Mahayana [[pantheon (religion)|pantheon]].<ref name="Bell" /> Second, another important difference is the treatment of the image of the Buddha: whereas the art of Sanchi, however detailed and sophisticated, is [[aniconic]],<ref>The Buddha Image: Its Origin and Development, Yuvraj Krishan, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1996 [https://books.google.com/books?id=kDyJh--iaL0C&pg=PA26 p. 26]</ref> 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.<ref>The Buddha Image: Its Origin and Development, Yuvraj Krishan, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1996 [https://books.google.com/books?id=kDyJh--iaL0C&pg=PA1 p. 1ff]</ref><ref>The Grandeur of Gandhara: The Ancient Buddhist Civilization of the Swat, Peshawar, Kabul and Indus Valleys Rafi-us Samad, Algora Publishing, 2011 [https://books.google.com/books?id=PMEd8Cqh-YQC&pg=PA23 p. 23]</ref>

The presence of Greeks at or near Sanchi at the time is known ([[Indo-Greek]] ambassador [[Heliodurus|Heliodorus]] at [[Vidisha]] {{Circa|100 BCE}}, the Greek-like [[:File:Foreigners at Sanchi Stupa I North Gateway.jpg|foreigners illustrated at Sanchi worshiping the Great Stupa]], or the Greek "Yavana" devotees who had dedicatory inscriptions made at Sanchi<ref name="Singh"/>), but more precise details about exchanges or possible routes of transmission are elusive.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0 auto;"  align="center"  colspan="6" cellpadding="3" style="font-size: 80%; width: 100%;"
|-
|state = collapsed align=center colspan=6 style="background:#BC8F8F; font-size: 100%; width: 1%;"| '''Sanchi and the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara'''
|-
|
|align="center"|'''Maya's dream'''
|align="center"|'''The Great Departure'''
|align="center"|'''Mara's attack'''
|align="center"|'''Enlightenment'''
|align="center"|'''The Buddha Preaching'''
|-
|align="center"|'''Sanchi'''<br />(1st c. BCE/CE)
|align="center" style="font-size: 80%;"|[[File:Maya's dream Sanchi Stupa 1 Eastern gateway.jpg|150px]]<br />Maya's dream of a white elephant.
|align="center" style="font-size: 80%;"|[[File:Departure of the Buddha from Kapilavastu Sanchi Stupa 1 Northern Gate.jpg|120px]]<br />The Buddha, under the umbrella on the chariot, is not illustrated.
|align="center" style="font-size: 80%;"|[[File:Temptation and enlightenment of the Buddha.jpg|120px]]<br />The Buddha is symbolized by an empty throne.
|align="center" style="font-size: 80%;"|[[File:Enlightenment of the Buddha with the Nagas rejoincing.jpg|120px]]<br />The Buddha is symbolized by an empty throne.
|align="center" style="font-size: 80%;"|[[File:Teaching the Sakyans Sanchi Stupa 1 Northern Gateway.jpg|120px]]<br />The Buddha is symbolized by an empty throne.
|-
|align="center"|'''[[Greco-Buddhist art]] of [[Gandhara]]'''<br />(1st c.CE-4th c.CE)
|align="center" style="font-size: 80%;"|[[File:Maya's Dream and its Interpretation, Gandhara, 2nd-3rd century AD, schist - Ethnological Museum, Berlin - DSC01634.JPG|150px]]<br />Very similar illustration from Gandhara.
|align="center" style="font-size: 80%;"|[[File:Scenes from the Life of the Buddha, Gandhara, 2nd-3rd century, schist - Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive - DSC04149.JPG|170px]]<br />The Buddha in person leaves the city.
|align="center" style="font-size: 80%;"|[[File:L'attaque de Mâra (musée d'art asiatique de Dahlem, Berlin) (12488794514).jpg|120px]]<br />The Buddha is illustrated centrally.
|align="center" style="font-size: 80%;"|[[File:Buddha's Sermon, Gandhara, 2nd-3rd century AD, schist - Ethnological Museum, Berlin - DSC01650.JPG|120px]]<br />The Buddha is illustrated centrally.
|align="center" style="font-size: 80%;"|[[File:Preaching Buddha, Gandhara, c. 3rd-4th century AD, gray schist - Matsuoka Museum of Art - Tokyo, Japan - DSC07116.JPG|150px]]<br />The Buddha is illustrated centrally.
|}

== Western Discovery ==
[[File:Sanchi Great Stupa 1851.jpg|thumb|The Great Stupa as breached by [[Thomas Herbert Maddock|Sir Herbert Maddock]] in 1822. Watercolor by [[Frederick Charles Maisey]], in 1851.]]
[[File:Ruins at Stupa 1 Sanchi Joseph Beglar 1875.jpg|thumb|left|Ruins of the Southern Gateway, Sanchi in 1875.]]
[[File:A Gate to the Stupa of Sanchi 1932.jpg|thumb|upright|A Gate to the Stupa of Sanchi 1932]]
General Henry Taylor (1784–1876) who was a British officer in the [[Third Anglo-Maratha War|Third Maratha War]] of 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 by [[Thomas Herbert Maddock|Sir Herbert Maddock]] in 1822, although he was not able to reach the center, and he then abandoned.<ref name="JA"/> [[Alexander Cunningham]] and [[Frederick Charles Maisey]] made the first formal survey and excavations at Sanchi and the surrounding stupas of the region in 1851.<ref name="BL">{{cite news |last1=Wright |first1=Colin |title='Miscellaneous Series. Plate.12. Juma Masjid, Chanderi'. Maisey in a top-hat sketching in the foreground |url=http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/other/019wdz000000546u00027000.html |work=www.bl.uk |archive-date=16 June 2021 |access-date=8 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210616100130/http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/other/019wdz000000546u00027000.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="JA">{{cite book |title=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland |date=1851 |publisher=Cambridge University Press for the Royal Asiatic Society |pages=108–109 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K_kAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA108}}</ref> Amateur [[archaeologists]] and 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 of [[John Marshall (archaeologist)|Sir John Marshall]].<ref>[http://projectsouthasia.sdstate.edu/docs/archaeology/primarydocs/Sanchi/HistArt.htm John Marshall, "An Historical and Artistic Description of Sanchi", from ''A Guide to Sanchi,'' Calcutta: Superintendent, Government Printing (1918). pp. 7-29 on line, Project South Asia.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210033559/http://projectsouthasia.sdstate.edu/docs/archaeology/primarydocs/Sanchi/HistArt.htm |date=10 February 2009 }}</ref>

19th Century Europeans were very much interested in the Stupa which was originally built by Ashoka. French sought the permission to take away the eastern gateway to 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 (archaeologist)|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 introduced new 200 Indian Rupees notes with Sanchi Stupa in 2017.<ref>[https://paisaboltahai.rbi.org.in/pdf/100295-1001%20Rs%20200%20note-Eng_7-1-19-01.pdf Reserve Bank of India, know your banknotes]</ref>

Since Sanchi remained mostly intact, few artefacts of Sanchi can be found in Western Museums: for example, [[:File:WLA vanda The Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara.jpg|the Gupta statue of Padmapani]] is at the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]] in [[London]], and [[Sanchi Yakshi Figure|one of the Yashinis]] can be seen at the [[British 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 the [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Sites]] since 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.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.54756 Percy Brown, Indian Architecture, 1955]</ref>
{{clear}}
<gallery>
File:Great Stupa Sanchi 1875.jpg|Great Stupa, Eastern Gateway, in 1875.
File:West Gate Sanchi 1882.jpg|West Gateway in 1882.
File:South Gateway Sanchi 1882.jpg|South Gateway in 1882.
File:Northern Gateway Sanchi 1861.jpg|Great Stupa, Northern Gateway in 1861.
File:Temple 18 at Sanchi in 1861.jpg|Temple 18 in 1861.
File:A vision of ancient Indian court life, using motifs from Sanchi (wood engraving, 1878).jpg|A vision of ancient Indian court life, using motifs from Sanchi (wood engraving, 1878).
</gallery>

== Chetiyagiri Vihara and the Sacred Relics ==
[[File:Chetiyagiri Vihar 02.jpg|thumb|Chetiyagiri Vihara]]
The bone relics (asthi avashesh) of Buddhist Masters along with the reliquaries, obtained by Maisey and Cunningham were divided and taken by them to England as personal trophies.<ref>Brekke, Torkel, Bones of Contention: Buddhist Relics, Nationalism and the Politics of Archaeology, Numen, Volume 54, Number 3, 2007, pp. 270-303(34)</ref> Maisey's family sold the objects to [[Victoria and Albert Museum]] where they stayed for a long time. The Buddhists in England, Sri Lanka and India, led by the [[Mahabodhi Society]] demanded that they be returned. Some of the relics of [[Sariputta]] and [[Maudgalyayana|Moggallana]] were sent back to Sri Lanka, where they were publicly displayed in 1947.<ref>"Ceylon Allowed To Keep Sanchi Relics Till May 8", ''Indian Express'' – 28 Apr 1947.</ref> It was such a grand event where the entire population of Sri Lanka came to visit them. However, they were later returned to India. But a new temple Chetiyagiri Vihara was constructed to house the relics, in 1952.<ref>BUDDHA DISCIPLES WILL BE REBURIED; Relics of Followers of Ancient Leader to Be Reinterred at Rites in India Saturday, THE NEW YORK TIMES, 25 November 1952</ref> In a nationalistic sense, this marked the formal reestablishment of the Buddhist tradition in India. Some of the relics were obtained by Burma.<ref>Sariputta and Moggallana in the Golden Land: The Relics of the Buddha's Chief Disciples at the Kaba Aye Pagoda, [[James (Jack) Daulton|Jack Daulton]], Journal of Burma Studies, Volume 4, 1999 pp. 101-128</ref>

== Inscriptions ==
[[File:Sanchi_Inscription_(BM).JPG|thumb|left|Inscribed panel from Sanchi in [[Brahmi]] script in the [[British Museum]]<ref>[https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1887-0717-1 British Museum collection]</ref>]]
[[File:Danam letters on Sanchi inscription.jpg|thumb|The last two letters to the right of this inscription in [[Brahmi]] form the word "dǎnam" (donation). This hypothesis permitted the decipherment of the [[Brahmi]] script by [[James Prinsep]] in 1837.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Salomon |first1=Richard |title=Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the other Indo-Aryan Languages |date=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780195356663|page=207|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XYrG07qQDxkC&pg=PA206}}</ref>]]
Sanchi, especially Stupa 1, has a large number of [[Brahmi]] inscriptions. Although most of them are small and mention donations, they are of great historical significance. [[James Prinsep]] in 1837, noted that most of them ended with the same two Brahmi characters. Princep took them as "danam" (donation), which permitted the decipherment of the Brahmi script.<ref>Indian Epigraphy : A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the other Indo-Aryan Languages, Richard Salomon, [[Oxford University Press]], 1998</ref><ref>''Ashoka: The Search for India's Lost Emperor'', [[Charles Allen (writer)|Charles Allen]], Little, Brown Book Group Limited, 2012</ref>

An analysis of the donation records<ref>A study of inscribed reliefs within the context of donative inscriptions at Sanchi, Author: Milligan, Matthew David, Thesis, p. 77</ref> shows that while a large fraction of the donors were local (with no town specified), a number of them were from [[Ujjain]], [[Vidisha]], Kurara, Nadinagar, Mahisati, Kurghara, Bhogavadhan and Kamdagigam. Three inscriptions are known from [[Yavana]] ([[Indo-Greek]])<ref name="IAS"/> donors at Sanchi, the clearest of which reads "''Setapathiyasa Yonasa danam''" ("Gift of the [[Yona]] of Setapatha"), Setapatha being an uncertain city.<ref name="Singh" />

== See also ==
{{BuddhasHolySites}}
* [[Bharhut]]
* [[Relics of Sariputra and Mahamoggallana]]
* [[Begram ivories]]
* [[Deekshabhoomi]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Literature ==
* Dehejia, Vidya. (1992). Collective and Popular Bases of Early Buddhist Patronage: Sacred Monuments, 100 BC-AD 250. In B. Stoler Miller (ed.) ''The Powers of Art''. Oxford University Press: Oxford. {{ISBN|0-19-562842-X}}.
* Dehejia, Vidya. (1997). ''Indian Art''. Phaidon: London. {{ISBN|0-7148-3496-3}}
*Harle, J.C., ''The Art and Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent'', 2nd edn. 1994, Yale University Press Pelican History of Art, {{ISBN|0300062176}}
*[[John Marshall (archaeologist)|Marshall, Sir John]], ''A Guide to Sanchi'', 1918, Indian Government, Calcutta
*Michell, George (1988), ''The Hindu Temple: An Introduction to its Meaning and Forms'', 1977, University of Chicago Press, {{ISBN|978-0-226-53230-1}}
*Michell, George (1990), ''The Penguin Guide to the Monuments of India, Volume 1: Buddhist, Jain, Hindu'', 1990, Penguin Books, {{ISBN|0140081445}}
* Mitra, Debala. (1971). ''Buddhist Monuments''. Sahitya Samsad: Calcutta. {{ISBN|0-89684-490-0}}
*Rowland, Benjamin, ''The Art and Architecture of India: Buddhist, Hindu, Jain'', 1967 (3rd edn.), Pelican History of Art, Penguin, {{ISBN|0140561021}}
*Life in Sanchi sculpture by A. L Srivastava( Book )

== External links ==
{{Wikivoyage|Sanchi}}
{{EB1911 poster|Sānchi}}
* {{commons category-inline}}
* [http://projectsouthasia.sdstate.edu/docs/ Source Documents and Texts in South Asian Studies] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061121040849/http://projectsouthasia.sdstate.edu/Docs/ |date=21 November 2006 }}
* [http://sanchi.org/ Sanchi.org]
* [http://www.bergerfoundation.ch/wat4/museum1?museum=Sanchi&col=pays&country=Inde&genre=%&cd=7256-3191-2328:7256-3191-2325:7256-3191-2326&cdindex=2"Sanchi (Madhya Pradesh)", Jacques-Edouard Berger Foundation, World Art Treasures] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927003357/http://www.bergerfoundation.ch/wat4/museum1?museum=Sanchi&col=pays&country=Inde&genre=%&cd=7256-3191-2328:7256-3191-2325:7256-3191-2326&cdindex=2 |date=27 September 2007 }}
* [http://www.kamit.jp/02_unesco/01_sanchi/san_eng.htm Monuments at Sanchi (UNESCO World Heritage)]
* [https://www.google.com/maps/@23.4791463,77.7395844,2a,75y,12.7h,100.19t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1shUY4n6mtgAJjzCpyVDMlVw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en Google Street View tour of Sanchi]

{{World Heritage Sites in India}}
{{Raisen district}}
{{Adjacent communities
|title=Adjacent Buddhist structures
 | Centre = Sanchi
 | N = 
 | E = [[Bhojpur Stupas]]
|SE=[[Andher Stupas]]
 | S = [[Saru Maru]]
 |SW=[[Sonari Stupa]]
 | W = [[Satdhara]]
}}

[[Category:3rd-century BC religious buildings and structures]]
[[Category:1818 archaeological discoveries]]
[[Category:Stone buildings]]
[[Category:Villages in Raisen district]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Raisen district]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in India]]
[[Category:Maurya Empire]]
[[Category:Indian architectural history]]
[[Category:Buddhist art]]
[[Category:Stupas in India]]
[[Category:Buddha statues in India]]
[[Category:Buddhist sites in Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:Mauryan art]]
[[Category:Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India]]
[[Category:Buddhist relics]]
[[Category:Religious towers]]

[[fr:Sanchi]]