Sanchi Stupa: From Ashokan Times to Europe

Key Points

• 1A replica of the East Gate of Sanchi’s Great Stupa stands in Berlin, a 1:1 reproduction of the original structure.
• 2The Great Stupa was commissioned in the third century BCE by Emperor Ashoka and is the largest and oldest structure in a complex of Buddhist monuments.
• 3The ornamental gateways or toranas were constructed in the first century BCE, depicting scenes from the Buddha’s life and other Buddhist iconography.
• 4The East Gate is the most famous, with multiple copies displayed across Europe, tracing its origin to a plaster cast made in the 1860s.
• 5The Sanchi complex was 'discovered' by British officer Henry Taylor in 1818 and restored by ASI director-general John Marshall in the 1910s.