Buddhist monuments_ sanchi, amaravathi & monolithic pillars.

A brief analysis of Buddhist monuments.

1. Buddhist Monuments
Sanchi, Amaravathi& Monolithic Pillars
Jeevan Lal P N
University of Kerala
Art History and Aesthetics
RRV Center of Excellence For Visual Arts
Maveikkara, Kerala.

2. •Contents
•Philosophy of Stupas…
•Main characteristics of Sanchi…
•AmaravathiStupa…
•Monolithic Pillers…

3. STUPA
Theearlystupas,whichpreservedtheBuddha’srelics,werethefirst
monumentstosymbolizethepowerandmagnificenceofthefaith.Originallythe
focusofapopularcultofthedead,thestupacelebratestheBuddha’s
‘parinirvana’,thecentralmessageofBuddhism,andalsosymboliseshiseternal
‘body’.
TheperfectproportionsoftheBuddha’sbodycorrespondstothedesignof
religiousmonuments.Itsarchitecturedevelopedfromthepre-BuddhistIndian
grave-mound.Underthesemoundsthesaintlyasceticwereburied;theirbodies
wereseatedonthegroundandcoveredwithearth.Thesedome-shapedgraves,
ortumuli,ofthesaintswereregardedasholyplaces.Andweredestinationsfor
pilgrimageforthedevotionalandplacesofpracticeformeditators.

4. •The Great Stupais 120 feet across
(36.6 meters) and, excluding the
railing and umbrella, is 54 feet high
(16.46 meters).
The dome ‘anda’ or ‘egg’isa solid brick
work 32.32 in diameter and 12.8m high
In some stupas, the dome was coloured
and also some recesses were left at the
intervals for receiving small lamps to be lit
at the time of festivals
The stupawas enclosed within a wooden
or stone railing called as ‘’Vediaca’’ .
leaving an ambulatory passage with a
gateways called as ‘Toranas’,ateach
end of the cardinal points.

5. SanchiStupa

6. Stupas-great stupa at sanchi
•ItisthefirstmonumentalafterIndusvally.In3
rd
centuryBCofMouryadinastrybyKingAsokan.
•TheoriginalbrickstupawaslatercoveredwithstoneduringtheShungaperiod.
•Theouterrailingwerecompletedin1centuryADbyAndradinastryofSatavahana.
•SanchiisasmallvillageinRaisendistrictofMadhyaPradesh.Itis46kmNEofBhopal,
CapitalofMadhyaPradesh.ItisfamousforithousesBuddhistmonumentscalled"Stupas"
datingto3rdcenturyBCE."Stupa"inSanskritstandsfor"heap",Stupasarelarge
hemisphericaldomesormoundlikestructurecontainingacentralchamber,inwhichthe
relicsoftheBuddhawereplaced.

7. Graphical representation of Stupa.

8. .
The upper pradakshinapath was perhaps
reserved for monks , the traditioanalone
at ground level was open to all devotees
.
Stupais enclosed in a wooden or stone
railing called ‘Vedica’
Ambulatory passage with gateways
called ‘Torana’
base of dome a terrace of ‘Medhi’ with
a ‘Pradakshina’ path for worshippers
There are four gateways known as
“Torana” at each side of the stupain
four directions east ,west,north,south.
The decorative relief portrays the
world of ancient Buddhism.
A 3-tier stone (architrave) or wooden
umbrella called ‘Chhatravali’ or Chattra
spire, the below part is ‘Hermika’.

9. Detail of Torana
Toranasfacedeachofthecarinalpoints.Toranacontainstworailingpillarsandthreecemicircular
crossbars.Thetoranasarewellcarved,thecarvedimages(reliefs)areconsistofpaintings,“thevision
throughonewindow”.Thecrossbarsarerichlycarvedwithfullandhalflousmedalins.Theendings
arelikespiralshaped.ThecarvingsareaboutbuddhastoriesorJathakatales.Buddhahasindirectly
presentedbytheformofpepaltree,LotusFlower,emptythrown,footstepsorDharmachakraetc.
Visualisethedivinityinphysicalforms.
AlexanderCunninghamrecoveredsomepartsoftheVedikaandsouthernTorana.

10. Visual stories of sanchi
The visual sculptures providing spiritual lessons in the age of an limited literacy. The jathakatales, the
stories of the former animal and human lives of the Buddha, paradigms of the Buddhist pilgrim’s
towards an enlightedstate.
“Early artists used a specific symbol to suggest each ‘station’ in Buddha’s spiritual journey,
the pipaltree-Enlightenment, the wheel of the first sermon, and his stupafor his ‘parinirvana’ .”
_Alfred Foucher.

11. VessantharaJathaka(Story of Prince Vessantara), bottom architecture, front and back, north gate,
the great stupa, sanchi, first century BC.
`` .
Buddha’s victory over Mara’s forces, his final tempters before illumintion, the great stupaof sanchi,
First cent BC.

12. East Gate
On the east gate A
YakshiGoddess is carved
on the Torana. She is a
Goddess of the Forest
worshipped long before
Buddhism.
West Gate
On west gate the Yaksha, a God of the Forest
was carved . He is believed to be the origin of
the later God figure, Vaisravana. There’s an
image of a wheel and people worshipping it in
the centre of the West gate. The wheel is known
as the “Wheel of Law”, which represents Buddha
and his teachings.

13. South Gate
On the South gate shows how people fought over
the Buddha’s remains. After the war they were
divided into 8 parts, and later divided into 84
thousand parts. This process allowed Buddhists to
build numerous stupasthroughout Asia
North Gate
On the North Gate there are
carvings of people worshipping
the stupa. It depicts people
making offerings, playing
instruments and worshipping.

14. Pradakshinapath is fenced by Railing or ‘Vedica’ 3.35m high

15. StupaandAsokaPillar,Vaishali,Bihar.EmperorAsokais
believedtohaveredistributedtheholyrelicsoftheBuddhaand
enshrinedtheminvaststupasacrosshisempire

17. AmaravathiStupa

18. STUPA AT AMRAVATI
•Amaravati,aPaliwordmeaning'AbodeoftheDeathless'referringtonirvana.
•TheGreatStupaatAmaravatiwasalargeBuddhistmonumentbuiltinsouth-eastern
IndiabetweenthesecondcenturyB.C.andthethirdcenturyA.D.Itwasacentrefor
religiousactivityandworshipforhundredsofyears.
•AmaravatiwhichalsoknownasAmrawatiorAmraotiisapopularancientcity,whichlies
onthebankofRiverKrishnaatadistanceof65kilometersfromVijaywadain
Hyderabad,Andhrapradesh
•OneofthemajorattractionsofAmravaticonsistsoftheremainsofa2000-year-old
Buddhistsettlement,alongwiththegreatBuddhiststupa.Thereisalsoatemple
dedicatedtoLordAmaresvarainthecity.
•FoundedbyanemissaryofthegreatEmperorAshoka,itisalsoknownastheMahastupa
andDeepaladinne(theMoundofLamps).

19. Mandhatajathaka, inner face of outer railling, the great stupaAmaravathy, secentCent BC.

20. Amaravatitoday
In the late nineteenth century, most of the main
Amaravatisculptures were taken from the site and
sent to museums. Most of the sculptures are in a
museum at Chennai, India and at Amaravatiitself.
Many are also in the British Museum.
There are various representations of Lord Buddha
in the form of sculptures in the Amravati Stupa.
There are beautiful carvings and sculptures which
interpret the life of Buddha and his incarnations
from the Jatakatales

21. The Great Departure of Prince
Siddhartha, Amaravati
Railing crossbar with monks worshiping a fiery pillar, a
symbol of the Buddha, , Great Stupaof Amaravati

22. Railing pillar with the Interpretation of the
Dream of Queen Maya, Great Stupaof
Amaravati
Carvings from the Great Stupaat Amaravati,
Andhra Pradesh, founded 3rd C. BC

23. Dome sculpture from the Great Stupaat
Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh
Railing pillar with King Shuddhodanaand
Queen Maya, parents of Prince Siddhartha,
on an elephant

24. Drum slab from the Great Stupaat Amaravati, 3rd C. AD
Upper left corner of a drum slab, Great Stupaat
Amaravati

25. Monolithic Pillars

26. •Boldly designed, finely proportioned,
conceptually well balanced
•Shaft is circular piece of stone tapering upwards
40-50ft long
•Capital -
•symmetrical design
Inverted lotus
or bell
capital
shaft
MONOLITHIC PILLARS

27. The three sections of the capitals are
made in a single piece, often of a different stone
to that of themonolithicshaft to which they are
attached by a large metaldowel. The shafts are
always plain and smooth, circular in cross-
section, slightly tapering upwards and always
chiselledout of a single piece of stone-Capital.
The lower parts of the capitals have the shape
and appearance of a gently arched bell formed
of lotus petals (base).
The abaci are of two types: square
and plain and circular and decorated and these
are of different proportions. The crowning
animals are masterpieces ofMauryan art, shown
either seated or standing, always in the round
and chiselledas a single piece with the
abaci.
[7][8]
Presumably all or most of the other
columns that now lack them once had capitals
and animals.

28. STHAMBAS-Ashokapillar
ThepillarsofAshokaareaseriesofcolumnsdispersedthroughoutthenorthern
Indiansubcontinent,erectedoratleastinscribedbytheMauryankingAshokaduringhis
reigninthe3rdcenturyBCE.ThefirstPillarofAshokawasfoundinthe16centurybyThomas
CoryatintheruinsofancientDelhi.
Sthambasor Pillars
with religious emblems
were put up by pious
Buddhists in honor of
Buddha or other great
Buddhists. Fragments
of sthambas
belonging to Mauryan
times and later were
found at Sanchi,
Sarnath, Amaravati
and Nagarjunkonda.

29. ThisAshokanPillarisoneofseveralfree-standing,highlypolishedsandstonepillars
fromthereignoftheMauryanEmperorAshokafoundacrossnorthernIndia.Thetall,heavy
columnisn'tsupportedbyabaseorplatformandiscrownedbyacapitalwithasinglelion.
Theauthoritative,open-mouthedlionisseatedonasquaredaisthatjutsfromthecapital's
base,whichisdecoratedwithaninvertedlotusblossom.Similartootherpillarsthathavebeen
discoveredintheregion,itismadeofasinglepieceoflightcoloredsandstoneand
transportedfromaquarryinChunar,nearVaranasi(Benares).
Thepillar,erectedbyAshokainKolhuanearabrickstupa(adomedmemorialfor
theBuddha)andtheruinsofaBuddhistmonastery,commemorates thelastsermonofthe
Buddhabeforeheachievedenlightenment.Itslioncapitalfacesnorth,thedirectionthe
Buddhatookonhislastvoyage.Onlytenpillarswithintactinscriptionshavebeenfound,
althoughmanymorewereerectedduringtheemperor'sreign.Theinscriptionsdescribeedicts
ofethicalconduct,publicandprivate,basedonnon-violenceandthetenetsofBuddhism,
thatwerecreatedandpromulgatedbyAshoka.

30. A portion of the AshokaPillar, 15.25 meters high,
surmounted by the famous lion-capital and a dharma
chakra above the heads of the four lions stands
embedded near the Dharmarajikastupaat Sarnath.
The pillar bears the edict of Ashokawarning the monks
and nuns against creating a schism in the monastic
order.
The broken fragments of the Pillar are now in the Museum
at Sarnath.

31. The inscription on the surviving base of the pillar
The base of the Lion Capital pillar, in its original site in the Deer Park at Sarnath

32. Another AshokanPillar of note is the one at LauriyaNandangarhin Bihar.
•Erected in the 3rd century BC it is made of highly polished Chunarsand-stone. Standing 9.8
metreshigh it rises from the ground and has no base structure.
•It is surmounted by a bell-shaped inverted lotus.
The abacus on it is decorated with
flying geese and crowning it is a
sitting lion. The pillar is an example of
the engineering skill of the craftsmen
of Mauryan times.

33. An Ashokanpillar across from a stupaat Kolhua, near Vaishali, in Bihar

34. Thank You
pn,[email protected]