Early Buddhist Art
Artist: unknown
Title: Great Stupa at Sanchi (Stupa I)
Material: Stone, brick, plaster, etc.
Site: Sanchi, India
Current Location: Sanchi, India
Period/Date: Mauryan (ca. 323-185 B.C.E.), Sunga (ca. 2nd c.-1st c.
B.C.E.), and later periods
Iconography/Iconology: Although stupas are extremely complex symbolic
systems, that have been interpreted differently in various times and places,
they have two primary iconologies. The first is that of a relique mound
encasing the physical relics (usually bone, teeth, or hair) of Sakyamuni
himself. In this context, they commemorate the actions of Sakyamuni Buddha
and symbolize the essence of his life and teachings. The second iconology
is that the stupa is inherently a sculpture of Mt. Meru, demonstrating the
Buddhist cosmology to the practitioner.
Other stupas may commemorate individuals, sites of important events, and
function as offerings of the faithful; however, it is important to recognize
that even the secondary stupas have the connotations given above. The Great
Stupa at Sanchi is one of the stupas built by Emperor Ashoka during the
middle of the 3rd century B.C.E., when he opened seven of the eight original
stupas containing Sakyamuni's relics. He then distributed them throughout
his empire in what is said to be 84,000 stupas. This action can be seen
as a kind of imperial sanctification and Buddhist vivification of the Mauryan
Empire. It served to distribute the relics over a broad area of the Buddhist
world at the time.
Stylistic Comments: The low hemispheric form of the stupa is believed
to be characteristic of the very early stupas.
