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Most Buddhist stupa monastery sites were built over many centuries and
reveal the gradual evolution of sculptural and architectural style as well as
of religious thought and practice. The stupa began as a pre-Buddhist burial
mound and by the time of Ashoka the cult of the stupa had been taken up
by Buddhism. Symbolism of the stupa relates first of all to directionality
and the cosmos. Stupas are built on a hill, where their beneficial influence
can radiate to all four points of the compass. It stood for the axis-mundi
(centre of the universe), a world-mountain whose axis is defined by the
mast, and finally the symbolic body of Buddha himself, decorated (on gates
and railings only) with sculpted scenes from his life and Jataka stories of
his previous incarnations.
The stupa – monastery complexes were located close to urban centres and
along the major trade and pilgrimage routes. Most of the major stupa-
monastery complexes were located on the outskirts of the great cities of the
time- Sanchi outside Vidisha, Amravati outside Dharanikota (the
Satavahana capital) and Nagarjunakonda outside Vijayapuri (the Ikshvaku
capital). Bharut was also located on the outskirts of a city which has not yet
been identified with any site mentioned in the ancient texts.
Now we wish to focus on four distinct stupa sites which represent the early
Buddhist art and architecture of the Post-Mauryan period. These include
the Great Stupa at Sanchi, the Mahachaitya at Amravati, Bharhut and
Nagarjunakonda.
If you travel from Delhi to Bhopal by train, you will see the majestic
stupa complex on top of a hill, crowning it as it were. As you climb up the
hill, you can see the complex of structures: a large mound and other
monuments including a temple build in 5th century. While the mahachaitya
at Amravati is now just an insignificant little mound, totally denuded of its
former glory, the ‘Great stupa’ at Sanchi still survives. The credit goes to a
number of factors that helped to keep Sanchi as it was. Nineteenth century
Europeans were very interested in the stupa at Sanchi and it was also
suggested that the eastern gateway be taken to either Paris or London; but
the then rulers of Bhopal, Shahjehan Begum and Sultan Jehan Begum,
provided money for the conservation of the ancient site; hence the
advantage of being in a better state of preservation than many other
Buddhist stupa monastery sites.
Sanchi, located in the Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh, lies 10 k.m. from
the ancient urban site of Vidisha strategically located along the river Betwa
on the pivotal route connecting the urban centres of the Ganga basin with
those located further south across the Vindhiyas. The monastic complex is
located on top of a hill, with a cluster of monastic sites of which we are
going to focus majorly on the most important monument in Sanchi: the
Great Stupa No.1, which is one of the oldest stone structures in India. With
a massive hemispherical dome, the stupa stands majestically at a height of
16.4 m and a diameter of 36.5 m. Built originally as an earthen stupa by
Emperor Asoka in 3rd c B.C., it was rebuild and enlarged in 2nd c B.C. under
the Shungas. The early stupa at Sanchi was plain, but during the Shunga
period, the stupa was enlarged and faced with stones, decorated with
railings, staircase and a harmika at the top.
The structure of the Great Stupa can be simply explained as cylindrical
walled makeup intersecting with a hemispherical dome. The dome is filled
with rubble, covered by a masonry exterior, and topped by a squared-off
platform (harmika) which encloses a royal parasol (chattra) atop a mast
(yasti.) In its full development, the dome is placed atop an elevated
platform with stairs leading clockwise from the ground level up to a
circular walkway, where the worshipper may circumambulate the dome.
Finally, the whole stupa is enclosed by a railing (vedika) and elaborate
gates (torana) are built in front of each of the four cardinal points. The
harmika and associated structures are derived from the chaitya - an early
tree-shrine, surrounded by a fence.
An important aspect we wish to focus upon is the art that has been
depicted at this site which interestingly depicts Lord Buddha symbolically
in the form of footprints, wheels, thrones, etc rather than by his own image.
The railings here are richly sculptured with different motifs and designs.
The gateways of Sanchi stupa are noteworthy as they contain ornamented
depiction of incidents from the life of the Buddha and his previous
incarnations described as Bodhisattvas in the Jataka tales. Being the last of
the additions to this remarkable stupa these elaborate and richly carved
four gateways or ‘Toranas’ are the finest e.g. of Buddhist architecture in
India and is something that we wish to take up in detail.
The first of the four gateways to be erected was the one at the Southern
Entrance, followed, in chronological order by the Northern, the Eastern and
the Western Gateways. The Southern Gateway reveals the birth of Gautam
Buddha in a series of dramatically rich carvings. The Northern Gateway
crowned by a wheel of law, illustrates the miracle associated with the
Buddha as told in the Jataka tales; one also finds the depiction of
Vessantara Jatakas here. The Eastern Gateway depicts the young prince,
Gautam, leaving his father's place, renouncing worldly life to seek
enlightenment. Susan Huntington in her work ‘The Art of Ancient India’
has reinterpreted this scene as depicting a ceremonial re-enactment of the
Great Departure, rather than the Great Departure itself. Her interpretation
should be understood in the context of Huntington's comprehensive re-
evaluation of aniconism in early Buddhist art. The Western Gateway
depicts the seven incarnations of the Buddha, four represented by trees
and three by stupas.
The sculptures depicted at Sanchi include yakshas, yakshis, nagas and
nagis. Depictions of animals include that of lion, elephant, horse, bull, etc.
Monkeys are conspicuous by their absence. There are also some hybrid
animals like winged lion, centaurs, sea-monsters, etc. Among birds, geese
appear often with others like cranes, peacocks and parrots. Floral designs
include full-blown or half-blown lotus, suspended garlands, creepers and
floral pattern known as honey suckle ornament. Among trees, pipal appears
often. Human figures are not realistically depicted and there is certain
stiffness about them; some may even represent donors. At Sanchi, the birth
of Buddha is usually represented by Maya seated on a lotus. The most
developed form of the scene shows Maya flanked by two elephants holding
round pitchers in their trunks which is strikingly similar to the Gaja-
Lakshmi motif, so much so that Coomaraswamy thought that this was in
fact a representation of the goddess Lakshmi; but according to Upinder
Singh, given its prominent position in the gateway, it seems as if the
Buddhist traditions has given it a new meaning. The Buddha’s
enlightenment is represented by the bodhi tree, the first sermon at Sarnath
is represented by the wheel and the stupa symbolized Buddha’s death. The
conception is represented in scenes showing Maya asleep on a couch with a
white elephant at the top of the panel. Interestingly, this site is not
associated with any event in Buddha’s life and no relics have been found
within the Great Stupa.
AMRAVATI STUPA
Sir Walter Elliot’s operations at Amravati began with his discovery of the
western gateway of the mahachaitya. The sculpted stones he found
included two lions that had flanked the entrance, the shaft of a monolithic
column and a miniature stupa that had probably surmounted it, portions of
other pillars that had formed the entrance and five slabs on the dome of the
stupa opposite the entrance. It was made of brick and consisted of circular
vedika which depicted Lord Buddha in a human kind. Dehejia says that the
human image of Buddha was introduced; however Amaravati’s narratives
“carry an added fascination in enabling us to view the actual transition in
the portrayal of the Buddha from emblematic traces of his presence to the
anthropomorphic image.”
Colonel Mackenzie in 1797 was responsible for starting the theory that the
stupa was surrounded by two rails--one inner and another outer. However,
the mistake was rectified as it was acknowledged that there was no inner
rail rather the inner circle of sculptures was the facing of the base of the
stupa'. The rail at Amaravati resembled its predecessors in the principal
features; but the plinth was richly carved with a frieze of running boys and
animals, grotesquely treated. The rectangular pillars were edged off into
shallow flutes and they were decorated with half lotus discs at the top and
the bottom, and circular discs in the middle inserted with a full-grown lotus
or a scene, in the usual manner. But the most typical characteristic about
these pillars is the complete absence of the large standing human
representations, occupying the entire surface of the uprights, such as the
graceful statues of Yakshas and Yaksinis of Bharhut, Bodh-Gaya and the
dancing girls of Mathura. They have entirely disappeared and their place is
occupied by greatly magnified and richly carved lotus discs, curling leaves
carefully corrugated, and an enormous variety of scenic sculptures. The
preference for group composition, as opposed to single figures, is very
obvious in the swarming of the space between the discs-which was
generally left bare and unadorned in the earlier days by vivid and animated
delineation of the Jatakas and other incidents.
Between the railing pillars were carved stone bars known as 'cross bars'.
Each cross bar had a round sculpted face. The three cross-bars were each
embellished with a beautiful lotus disc with concentric bands of petals, the
most elaborate of its kind ever made, and all different. The lotus may have
been an important symbol representing purity and goodness in a polluted
environment. The lotus plant usually grows in the murky water of swamps
and pools. Its sturdy stem grows up out of the water to support a pure,
often white flower which blooms above the water. Some slabs invariably
present us with another peculiar feature, viz., a dwarf figure standing on
each side of the gate, holding a tray on his head. Their constant occurrences
lead us to believe that in the original structure they represented statues in
the round, bearing trays to receive the offerings of the visitors. On the
whole the inner side of the rail, covered with scenes full of life and
movement, was decorated with greater beauty and elaboration than the
exterior.
With the decline of Buddhism in India, one sees that the stupa also faced
neglect and got buried under rubble. But the remains that are left suggest
that there existed a massive structure that represented the art and
architecture of the Buddhist India of the time.
BHARHUT STUPA
NAGARJUNAKONDA STUPA
The sculptures are found on the fence and gates, and on stone relief slabs
that were stacked in rows against the body of the stupa itself. Although the
relief sculptures depict stupas with railings, very few actual railing
fragments have been found, and they are all plain and uninscribed. The
chief scenes portrayed in the sculptures recovered from these Andhra
stupas represent the five great miracles or the chief events in the life of the
Buddha namely the Nativity, Renunciation, Sambodhi, First Sermon, and
the Buddha's Death. These five incidents are portrayed over and over again,
either as beautifully executed bas-relief scenes or else mere conventional
symbols such as a tree, wheel and stupa.
To conclude, one can say that the stupas at Nagarjunakonda are a perfect
example of a plain Andhra stupa. The Andhra Buddha images have massive
bodies and wear robes with accentuated folds. The representation of the
Buddha in anthropomorphic form did not, however completely replace the
older convention of depicting him in symbolic form. As one can see at
Nagarjunakonda, relief panels depicting the Buddha in symbolic and
anthropomorphic form occur side by side.
Hence, we can conclude by saying that the given sites represent the Post-
Mauryan Buddhist architecture at its best. The intricate and elaborate
surface decoration and the shallowness of the relief carvings at sites such
as Sanchi, Bharhut and Amravati suggest that these represented a
translation of the woodcarver’s art into stone. On the scale of maturity, the
reliefs of Sanchi, Bharhut, Amravati and Nagarjunakonda show progressive
development. The sculptures of Amravati are a bit more mature than those
at the central Indian sites – the relief scenes are less crowded and the
frontality of the figure is less pronounce. Therefore one can say that the
architectural and sculptural features of stupas of the Post-Mauryan period
shared certain common features, but there were also some distinct regional
traditions as is explained in the essay.