Early Buddhist Art
Artist: unknown
Title: Great Stupa at Sanchi (Stupa I), west gateway (torana)
Material: Stone
Site: Sanchi, India
Current Location: Sanchi, India
Period/Date: Maurya-Sunga periods
Iconography/Iconology: (Continued from previous page...) The off-set
entrance to the ambulatory passage has one obvious function--it serves to
set-off and protect the ambulatory from casual, external observation. Conversely,
it also serves to restrict the devotees' potential digressions by the distractions
of the external world. Much more symbolic content has been made of these
based on their physical resemblance to a svastika, a symbol of the
Buddhist universe. However, this resemblance is remote, at best, and may
not have been intentional.
Stylistic Comments:
