Essay On The Great Stupa Of Sanchi

Today we will be comparing and contrasting two works of art. The first work is a statue called “The Royal Acquaintances Memi and Sabu" (The Met, n.d.). The second statue is called the “Statue of Gudea” (The Met, n.d.). Both statues share a number of similarities and differences between each other. We will discuss the comparisons and then the contrasts while identifying the the purpose behind each one.

The Buddhist instructor informed us that Buddha was just a title given to those that reached enlightenment. He also clarified that the statue in the center was of Chenrezig Buddha. Chenrezig Buddha is known as the Buddha of compassion. Under that statue was the Vajrapani statue, which is the protector of Buddha. This statue looks very fierce in nature in order to show the strength and power of Buddha. To the right was the picture of the founder of Diamond Way Buddhism centers, Lama Ole Nydahl, and the founder’s wife who had passed away. The instructor explained to us that Nydahl was a very inspirational and motivational Buddhist who was currently on tour all over the world for Buddhist teaching purposes (Anonymous).

The most significant aspects of the Great Stupa's Northern gateway connected with ritual context are the "Manushi Buddhas," "Mara" temptation, "Shaddanta-Jataka," and the "Vessantara Jataka.” The bas-relief provides masterly crafted details on the Indian life, as furniture, household, hairstyles, musical instruments, ornaments, etc. For instance, people on the architrave are all in the same hairstyle, having scarf on their head. There are also

The distance required to convert to Buddhism was greatly decreased and this allowed for more people to join. This greatly appealed to the diverse peoples outside of India. One way that Buddhism spread throughout the world was along the Silk Roads. “In addition to silk traders, monks traveled along Afro-Eurasian trade arteries to spread the word of new religions.2 Buddhism traveled from India to China and central Asia, following the Silk Roads. The transmission of the ideas of Buddhism to China and other eastward areas was aided by translated Buddhist texts and converts. A Buddhist Manuscript of the Great Dagoba (Doc A) exemplifies the way that these ideas were transmitted in the early days of Buddhism. This document suggests that monasteries and stupas, a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing Buddhist relics3, played a major role in the spread of Buddhism in the east Asia because of the creation of texts such as these. Art found from the central area of India is called Mathuran art. This Mathuran art evolved from the carved idols of South Asian folk gods and goddesses. Another example of the importance of temples to Buddhism is shown on an Indian Temple relief. The relief describes the propitious alignment of the heavenly bodies on the day that the temple was founded. This is important because it means that the native peoples

In the article “Ritual and Presentation in Early Buddhist Religious Architecture” by Lars Fogelin, the readers are introduced to Buddhism and ritual which include the stupas. Stupas were build according to Buddha’s dying wish, his reason for doing so was “indented for the laity who, with their poorer grasp of Buddhism principles, required the aid of direct worship to ease them toward the path to enlightenment” (Forgelin, pg. 3). The argument that Forgelin brings up is that the designers had to accommodate the needs of Buddhist worshipers “while attempting to provide mechanisms to foster group cohesion”(Forgelin, pg.1), which is shown in the open-air and rock-cut stupas. Forgelin’s thesis stated he will address the main topic by first presenting Buddhist’s goal and how to attain this goal referred to as nirvana, then who are the three principal groups who practice their rituals at a stupid, and how the designers had to incorporate the different styles of practice into the design of the stupas.

The Great Stupa at Sanchi was constructed around the third to first century BCE. The Great Stupa is a burial mound that is not a tomb but used to house relics of Buddha. Around the stupa is the fence with toranas that are intended to protect the remains of Buddha form the outside world. These fences are adorned with relief sculpture that tells of Buddha’s past lives. Buddhists will make pilgrimages to this location to further their walk to enlightenment. A visitor of the Great Stupa would enter through one the toranas, walk up the stairs, and then walk around the structure in a clockwise direction. This is called circumambulation and is supposed mimic the movement of the earth and the sun to bring the visitor in to harmony with the

The temple contains the images of many bodhisattvas,Buddha's, and disciples. The images of the Buddha's and bodhisattvas are the focus of the rooms and outside. For example, in the main shrine and Bodhisattva hall, the focus are the images. Another example is the garden of the eighteen arhats in which the Buddha is surrounded by his first disciples. The other garden that is in the temple is the Vessel of Compassion for Universal Liberation. The main image in this garden is that of Avalofitesvara Bodhisattva. The other images depicted are of heaven kings. The bodhisattva is important because the vows of this Bodhisattva are of a compassionate mind and the power of wisdom. This bodhisattva answers the prayers of sentient beings no matter where they are and manifests in different forms. These eighteen arhats extinguished all defilements and afflictions. They had reached nirvana and their righteousness is exemplary to all Buddhists. Comparatively, symbols play an important role in buddhism and we can see this through the offers made to the Buddha's and bodhisattvas. For example, incense symbolizes inner peace, a lamp offering symbolizes the brightening of our vision and the enhancement of our wisdom. In addition, in the images, mudras or certain objects are a symbol of important rules to follow. Such as in image of the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, the elephant symbolizes practice. The sounds that are used are that of instruments during the service in the main shrine and the sound of bells which usually mark the initiation of a service or other announcements. Furthermore, the smells that are used throughout the temple are incense. Incense is used as an offering and it is meant to help the Buddhist concentrate and focus on meditating. Lastly, taste is used in the ritual of eating vegetarian meals

The ruins of the famous ancient Indian cities, Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro are world’s first models of urban town planning, of stone and brick architecture as defense against floods, and of sanitary engineering and drainage systems. Archeologists have found that these cities had several modernized fire-burnt brick buildings and structures, such as citadels, public baths, granaries, drainage systems, and high walls. The cities were organized in a grid pattern and were divided into two parts. The citadel that housed large public buildings like the public baths and temples was built on a raised ground while the rest of city that housed the granaries and workshops was built on a lower level. The city layout was organized according to the social groups of people in the ancient Indian civilizations: the ruling people resided in the citadel, the rich merchants lived in the lower city, and the labor class who worked in workshops resided in small houses down the city. Over time, the ancient Indians developed ideas about God and religion, and founded religions like Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, all of which have millions of adherents even today. They also built temples like the Brihadeshwara temple. The ancient Indians were thus able to build an advanced urban

It appears as a decorative symbol in many Neolithic cultures, though we do not know if they used it in a religious sense of not. The swastika is seen most commonly, however, in India and the land surrounding it, where it is seen as a sacred religious symbol. When thought of in terms of ancient cultures, the swastika is largely grouped into the large category of ‘solar crosses’, which were used in worshipping the sun throughout much of the ancient world, and this can give us some clues into its ancient meaning. However, some experts have suggested that instead of representing the sun, or that the symbol’s four arms are meant to represent the four aspects of nature – the sun, wind, water, and soil. Still, others say that the four arms represent the four seasons, where the division of ninety-degrees represent the solstices and equinoxes. The Hindus use it to represent their God (Braham) in is universal aspect, the four directions of the world, and the four goals of life. In Buddhism, it is a visual representation of eternity. Still, it is most heavily used today in Jainism, where it represents the four places that the soul could be reborn after death, namely heaven, hell, as a human, or as flora and fauna. The followers of Jainism commonly fashion their offerings, which are commonly made of rice, into this

which is supposed to be the birth of the sun. This stone expresses the great

The Great Stupa at Sanchi was originally built with large bricks, but underwent an expansion, which brought it to its current state. It is a hemispherical mound of rubble and earth covered with sandstones. The Great Stupa stands at about fifty-four feet high and has a diameter of 120 feet. On top of the stupa is a flat area that holds a chatra, similar to a three-tiered umbrella, surrounded by a harmica, or square railing. One third of the way up the hemispherical mound there is a terrace enclosed with a fence that was used for rituals. Underneath the upper terrace there is a path on the ground enclosed by a verdica, or a fence. There are two paths because the upper terrace is used by high priests during rituals, while the lower path is used by pilgrims.

In this essay, I will compare and contrast two sacred spaces; Ise Jingu of Japan and the Great Stupa in India. First I will describe the sacred spaces and their artistic features, values and importance. Afterwards, will come the analysis comparing the two in architectural design and decisions, rather than the difference of religious belief or purpose.

The Buddha’s Eyes – especially on stupas – face in all four directions and symbolizes the omniscient mind of the Buddha.

The stone fence surrounds the whole stopa to restrict the outside world from the sacred burial mound. The dome shape of the stopa represents the mountain of the world. The toranas are large stone pillars that are placed in the cardinal points of the stone fence, north, east, south, and west. Directly on top of the stupa sits the harmika. This harmika is a rectangle shape stone fence that represents an area of the gods. In the center of this harmika extends the yasti, a pole like structure protruding towards the universe representing the axis of the universe. There are three chatras that are pierced through the yasti. The chatras are stone discs that represent the union of the earth and the “heavenly paradise” (Kleiner, p. 15). The stupas are walked around in a clockwise manner by Buddhists because that is the same movement of the earth around the sun. This is known as circumambulation. The theory of circumambulation is that it “brings the devotee into harmony with the cosmos” (p. 15). This is the standard blueprint to which all stupas are constructed, thus allowing the Buddhists to circumambulate the structure.

Outside, in front of the whare and at it's top is a "tekoteko", or carved figure, which is placed on the roof and at the entrance to the whare. It represents the ancestor's head. The "maihi", or carved