# The Great Stupa at Sanchi
**साँची का महास्तूप**

- Canonical page: https://indianepics.online/event/sanchi-stupa/
- Chapter: [The Mauryan Empire](https://indianepics.online/chapter/maurya.md)
- Track: evidence (archaeology and documents)
- When: 268 BCE – 232 BCE (± 10 years)
- Where: Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh (23.48, 77.74)
- Tags: religion, art

## Summary

Ashoka's brick stupa, doubled in size and cased in stone in the 2nd century BCE, and given carved gateways around the turn of the era.

अशोक का ईंटों का स्तूप, जिसे दूसरी सदी ई.पू. में दोगुना कर पत्थर से मढ़ा गया और ईसवी सन् के आरंभ के आसपास नक़्क़ाशीदार तोरण मिले।

## Account

The brick core, about half the present diameter, is attributed to Ashoka because it stands beside a Mauryan pillar carrying his edict against schism in the sangha. In the 2nd century BCE, probably under the Shungas, the mound was doubled in size and cased in stone, with a railing and terrace.

The four gateways came in the late 1st century BCE or early 1st century CE. One carries the gift inscription of Ananda, foreman of the artisans of the king Satakarni, which ties them to the Satavahanas, though whether that dynasty then ruled Vidisha is debated. Almost everything a visitor sees is post-Mauryan; only the core is Ashoka's.

## Sources

- Marshall and Foucher, The Monuments of Sanchi (1940) — https://archive.org/details/monumentsofsanch01john
- UNESCO World Heritage List: Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi — https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/524/

## Image

Sanchi Great Stupa Torana. Tom Maloney from London, United Kingdom, CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0), via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASanchi_Great_Stupa_Torana.jpg

---
Content licence: CC BY-SA 4.0. Source repository: https://github.com/SkidGod4444/indianepics