A structure more than 3000 years old, standing tall and strong on the test of time, protecting the relics of Gautam Buddha, built buy none other than the great emperor Ashoka – the Great Stupa at Sanchi really doesn’t need an introduction. Apart from being world famous, it’s Buddhist connections to Sri Lanka & Japan are particularly very strong. However, people from all over the world visit it.
The Great Stupa of Sanchi is located in a small village called Sanchi near Vidisha district, almost 45km North of Bhopal – the capital city of Madhya Pradesh. On our road trip across Madhya Pradesh, we visited Sanchi, along with Udayagiri and it’s caves while transiting from Orchha to Bhopal.
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How to reach the Great Stupa at Sanchi & where to stay near Sanchi
The Great Stupa at Sanchi is open to public all through the year, from morning 8:30am to evening 5:30pm. There is an adjoining Sanchi Stupa Museum as well which is open from 10:00am to 5:00pm. One can arrive at Vidisha by train, or at Bhopal by train or by air. And then hire a taxi or take a bus to Sanchi. From neighbouring states, one can easily drive to Sanchi. And stay in Vidisha or book an accommodation in Bhopal.
Book an accommodation in Vidisha by clicking here.
Book an accommodation in Bhopal by clicking here.
About the Great Stupa of Sanchi and other monuments
I had somehow always envisioned the Great Stupa of Sanchi to be in the center of a remote village, a single Stupa standing tall. But to the contrary, the Great Stupa of Sanchi is located on top of a hill, along with a lot of other monuments built either in parallel or afterwards. Some of these are intact while some others in almost ruins. There is beautiful landscaping done all around the monuments complex, with drinking water, benches to sit on and green lawns to relax on. One also gets a breathtaking view of the surrounding valleys from these hills. Do note that the Sanchi Stupa is also a UNESCO world heritage site.
You can take a guide to visit the Stupas. The guides here charge as low as INR 100 or 200. Or you can read about the Stupas before going there. But gathering some knowledge about the rich history and legacies surrounding these structures will definitely make your visit much more pleasant. Here, let me take you on a virtual tour of some of these structures of Sanchi :-
The Great Stupa at Sanchi
It is one of oldest structures in India. And it stores the relics of Buddha. It was first built by Emperor Ashoka in 3rd Century BC. It was a brick structure then and it’s hemisphere. And it’s entrance is adorned by the Ashoka Pillar. Later, during the age of Shungas and Satavahanas, the Stupa was enlarged, with a stone structure built around the original brick hemisphere. Do you know that the stupa of Sanchi is shown on the 200 rupees Indian Currency note to signify it’s importance as an important heritage of the Indian culture.
The entryway to the stupa is ornamentally decorated with several sculptures showing lotus, women, elephants, lion, peacock etc. They also represent Jatkas (Buddhist moral tales), Some of the miracles from the life of Buddha. Like Buddha walking on water, the miracle of fire and wood etc. Then there are stories of temptation. When Buddha was tempted by the daughters of Mara and his demons army – who fled after Buddha’s enlightenment.
The southern entrance gate to the Stupa, the oldest gate also has several sculptures and carvings depicting stories from Buddha’s life. A prominent depiction is that of the war between the followers of Buddha over his relics, after his death. Which was eventually distributed between 7 kingdoms of the time. And later Ashoka collected the relics back from all these kingdom and put them here at Sanchi.
There is a sculpture representing the Bodhi Tree ,while some other show foreign devotees who have been linked back to the Greek kingdom. Some also represent the different forms of Buddha, visit of Indra to Buddha, footprints of Buddha, the wheel of law and several other important symbols associated with Buddha. They also depict the story of arrival of Buddha at Kapilvastu, the departure of Buddha from Kapilvastu, Buddha teaching Sakyans, Descent of the Buddha from the Trayastrimsa Heaven at Sankissa and a lot many other stories related to the life of Buddha.
The pillars at the entrance of the Great Stupa at Sanchi are the earliest examples of load bearing pillars. These pillars have elephants at the top which help distribute the load.
The Ashoka Pillar
A sandstone pillar that stands near the main entrance of the Great Stupa of Sanchi. The upper part of this pillar broke off and is preserved in the nearby museum. While the lower part still stands near the stupa.
Temple 40
A vast temple, which is now almost in ruins, called temple 40 stands in front of the Great Stupa. It was perhaps built in 2nd centuary BC and then further expanded in 7th or 8t century during the Gupta period. It is one of the first instances of free standing temple structures in India. And at it’s prime, it consisted of 50+ pillars.
Other temples and structures in the Sanchi Buddhist Complex
The Stupa 2 and Stupa 3
The decorations of Stupa No. 2 have been called “the oldest extensive stupa decoration in existence”. While Stupa 3 contains the relics of Sariputra and Mahamoggallana, who were disciples of Buddha. These stupas are smaller in size compared to the main Stupa of Sanchi. And they can be seen in some of the pictures of the main Stupa of Sanchi, behind the main Stupa. And in the picture below, in front of the main Stupa.
The oldest Buddhist Monastery at the Great Stupa of Sanchi
There is a buddhist Monastery near the Great Stupa of Sanchi. It is also part of the same monuments, but one needs to cross the road and go to the other side to enter here. Before reaching the Monastery itself, we passed through a big courtyard which is almost in ruins now.
The ASI (Archeological) Museum of Sanchi
While one gets engrossed in exploring the Stupas of Sanchi and the temples, it’s very likely that another very important building that stands across the road to the main complex can get overlooked. It is none other than the ASI managed Archeological Museum at Sanchi. This museum houses several interesting artefacts found from the nearby Buddhist Temples.
General tips about visiting the Great Stupa at Sanchi
- October to March is the best time to visit here, the summers are very harsh and monsoons might not be perfect time to visit given there is very little shade in the whole area.
- The entry fee is Rs 100/- per person
- Wear comfortable cloths and comfortable walking shoes. You will need woolen in winter months of December and January as it is the top of a hill with unobstructed winds coming from the plains.
- There is ample 2 wheeler and 4 wheeler parking space at the entry of the complex.
- If you want to visit the museum, do remember that it remains open from 10am to 5pm so plan accordingly.
- You can combine a trip to the stupa of Sanchi with one to the Udayagiri Hills near Vidisha. We did the same. We visited Udayagiri hills first and then visited the Great Stupa of Sanchi from there. It was just a 20 minutes drive from Udayagiri hills to the Great Stupa of Sanchi
A summary of our MP Road Trip
We visited the great Stupa at Sanchi as a part of our MP Road Trip from Bangalore. As a part of this trip, we drove from Bangalore to Hyderabad and then from Hyderabad to Nagpur. From there, we drove to Jabalpur. And visited Bhedaghat near Jabalpur including the Dhuandhar Waterfalls, the marble rocks of Narmada River , the Narmada Valley, Chausath Yogini Temple and several other such important visiting places. We stayed overnight in Jabalpur. Then we proceeded further to Bandhavgarh National Park from Jabalpur and did a tiger safari in Bandhavgarh National Park the next day.
The next day, we drove to Khajuraho from Bandhavgarh National Park. Then we explored the temple complexes of Khajuraho. From there we proceeded to Orchha, from where we worked for a week. And in this period, we also explored the Orchha fort and Chattris. From Orchha, we drove to Bhopal. On the road trip from Orchha to Bhopal, we visited Sanchi, explored the Udayagiri Caves and caught a glimpse of the Raisen Fort. We stayed overnight at Bhopal. From Bhopal, we drove to Pachmarhi. And again, worked from the hills in Pachmarhi for a week. From there, we returned back to Bangalore via Nagpur and Hyderabad.
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