Early Buddhist Art
Artist: unknown
Title: Great Stupa at Sanchi (Stupa I), north gateway (torana)
Material: Stone
Site: Sanchi, India
Current Location: Sanchi, India
Period/Date: Sunga (ca. 25 C.E.)
Iconography/Iconology: Toranas set off sacred space, and by the
act of passing through a torana, the devotee leaves the mundane world
and enters into an environment in which he or she can realize or develop
toward his or her own attainment.
Stylistic Comments: Made as the offering of the ivory carvers of
King Satakarni, one of the kings of the Satavahana lines, these toranas
probably epitomize imperial sculpture under the Satavahana. Covered entirely
with low-relief narratives and depictions of Buddhist scenes, they form
both a narrative describing attainment and provide surrogate images of the
sites of pilgrimage of the Buddhist world.
