The Great Stupa at Sanchi is a Buddhist monument in Madhya Pradesh, India, and one of the oldest surviving stone structures in the country, originally commissioned by the emperor Ashoka in the third century BC and later enlarged with stone facing, staircases and a surrounding railing. Its hemispherical dome, a rubble and earth core faced in dressed stone, rises from a raised terrace and is topped by a three tiered stone umbrella representing the layers of Buddhist law, while four elaborately carved gateways, or toranas, added around the first century BC, depict scenes from the life of the Buddha and Jataka tales without ever showing the Buddha in human form. The site was abandoned by the thirteenth century as Buddhism declined in India and was largely forgotten until a British officer rediscovered it in 1818. Sanchi survives as the best preserved group of early Buddhist monuments in India and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1989.
Facts
Building TypeSourced to the subject's own account LocationSourced to the subject's own accountSanchi, Madhya Pradesh, India 1 Classification
Standing StatusSourced to the subject's own account Building Type
Building Type (category)Sourced to the subject's own account Connections
Has Building Type
Entity-backed identity for the building-type enum value this building already carries, resolved to an architecture concept by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The building-type fact itself stays on the building unchanged.
Uses Element
Source Great Stupa at Sanchi (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: India, located there.
Sources
1. Great Stupa at Sanchi (Wikipedia)
Wikipedialead section, second paragraph first sentence
The Great Stupa at Sanchi is one of the oldest stone structures in India, and an important monument to the historical architecture of India.
lead section, opening sentence
Sanchi Stupa is a Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the State of Madhya Pradesh, India.
- infobox building_type field
Entity description and the lead of the Wikipedia article
The Great Stupa at Sanchi is a Buddhist monument in Madhya Pradesh, India, and one of the oldest surviving stone structures in the country, originally commissioned by the emperor Ashoka in the third century BC and later enlarged with stone facing, staircases and a surrounding railing. Its hemispherical dome, a rubble and earth core faced in dressed stone, rises from a raised terrace and is topped by a three tiered stone umbrella representing the layers of Buddhist law, while four elaborately carved gateways, or toranas, added around the first century BC, depict scenes from the life of the Buddha and Jataka tales without ever showing the Buddha in human form. The site was abandoned by the thirteenth century as Buddhism declined in India and was largely forgotten until a British officer rediscovered it in 1818. Sanchi survives as the best preserved group of early Buddhist monuments in India and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1989.
Uses Element: Brick, Introduction
The stupa at Sanchi, built during the Mauryan period, was made of bricks.
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