NHK World Heritage 100 Series (en anglais)

Texte narratif (en anglais)

Symbolic Representations of Buddha /Buddhist Monuments of Sanchi

The remains of the Buddhist monuments of Sanchi are in central India. Sanchi was a prosperous city until about the 12th century. This site had been left abandoned and was overrun with vegetation when it was discovered in 1818. This Stupa built in the 3rd century B.C. enshrines the remains of Buddha. It is an early prototype of Buddhist stupas found today.

It was originally built with bricks and was about half the size. Statues of Buddha did not exist at that time because people worshipped the stupa as a symbol of Buddha instead. Canopy layers known as Chatra at the top of the stupa represent Buddha’s past, present and future.

There are four gateways known as “Torana” at each side of the stupa. The decorative relief portrays the world of ancient Buddhism. A Yakshi Goddess is carved on the East gate. She’s a Goddess of the Forest worshipped long before Buddhism. This Yaksha, a God of the Forest was carved on the West gate. He is believed to be the origin of the later God figure, Vaisravana.

There are carvings of people worshipping the stupa on the North gate. They’re making offerings, playing instruments and worshipping. It suggests how important the stupa was to these people. Relief work on the South gate shows how people fought over the Buddha’s remains. After the war they were divided into 8 parts, and later divided into 84 thousand parts. This process allowed Buddhists to build numerous stupas throughout Asia. These reliefs show many aspects of Buddhism but there is no image of Buddha. People then believed that he was an enlightened supreme being and should not be depicted as human. The point in his life when he left his palace and renounced worldly goods is represented by the soles of his feet and an umbrella. Buddha is represented in many different symbols.

This is Buddha, deep in meditation, surrounded by evil beings at the moment he achieves enlightenment. Buddha is represented here as a linden tree, the place where he attained enlightenment. There’s an image of a wheel and people worshipping it in the centre of the West gate. The wheel is known as the “Wheel of Law”, which represents Buddha and his teachings. Buddha was worshipped in many forms but it was not until the end of the 1st century that people started to make statues of Buddha in man’s image.