The document provides a history of architecture in India during the Buddhist period. It describes the Maurya Empire founded by Chandragupta Maurya in the 4th century BCE and the reign of Ashoka the Great in the 3rd century BCE who built the Great Stupa at Sanchi. It details the later Sunga dynasty and Satavahana period additions to the stupa including the stone casing and four decorated gateways. The document also discusses the later architectural additions at Sanchi up until the 12th century CE and provides images and descriptions of the key architectural features of Buddhist stupas, gateways, and chaitya halls.

1. History of Architecture(Year 1) By Anjith Augustine
BUDDHIST PERIOD

2. History of Architecture(Year 1) By Anjith Augustine
MAURYA EMPIRE

3. Maurya Dynasty
ca. 322-185 BCE
King Ashoka (r. 273-
Paliputra
Sarnath

5. The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in ancient India, ruled by
the Mauryan dynasty from 322 to 185 BCE.
Chandragupta Maurya founded
The Maurya Empire was founded by Chandragupta Maurya, with help from Chanakya, a Brahmin teacher
at Takshashila. According to several legends, Chanakya traveled to Magadha, a kingdom that was large and
militarily powerful and feared by its neighbors, but was insulted by its king Dhana Nanda, of the Nanda
Dynasty. Chanakya swore revenge and vowed to destroy the Nanda Empire.Meanwhile, the conquering
armies of Alexander the Great refused to cross the Beas River and advance further eastward, deterred by the
prospect of battling Magadha. Alexander returned to Babylon and re-deployed most of his troops west of
the Indus river. Soon after Alexander died in Babylon in 323 BCE, his empire fragmented, and local kings
declared their independence, leaving several smaller disunited satraps.
Ashoka the Great
Ashoka implemented principles of ahimsa by banning hunting and violent sports activity and ending
indentured and forced labor. Magadha, the center of the empire, was also the birthplace of Buddhism.
Ashoka initially practiced Hinduism but later embraced Buddhism; following the Kalinga War, he renounced
expansionism and aggression, and the harsher injunctions of the Arthashastraon the use of force, intensive
policing, and ruthless measures for tax collection and against rebels. Ashoka sent a mission led by his
son Mahinda and daughter Sanghamitta to Sri Lanka, whose king Tissa was so charmed with Buddhist ideals
that he adopted them himself and made Buddhism the state religion.

6. Ashokan Pillars h. 32’
History of Architecture(Year 1) By Anjith Augustine

7. Capital of Pillar erected by King
Ashoka at Sarnath, ca. 250 BCE
(“Lion Capital”)
Sandstone, h. 7’
Archaeological Musem, Sarnath
History of Architecture(Year 1) By Anjith Augustine

8. History of Architecture(Year 1) By Anjith Augustine

9. Animals of the Four Directions:
East: Elephant
History of Architecture(Year 1) By Anjith Augustine

10. Animals of the Four Directions:
South: Horse
History of Architecture(Year 1) By Anjith Augustine

11. Animals of the Four Directions:
West: Bull
North: Lion
History of Architecture(Year 1) By Anjith Augustine

12. ca 2000 BCE ca 250 BCE
History of Architecture(Year 1) By Anjith Augustine

13. History of Architecture(Year 1) By Anjith Augustine
SANCHI COMPLEX-SANCHI STUPA

14. History of Architecture(Year 1) By Anjith Augustine
Sanchi Stupa is located at Sanchi Town in Raisen
District of the state of Madhya Pradesh, India, it is located
46 km north east of Bhopal.
MAURYA PERIOD
The 'Great Stupa' at Sanchi is the oldest stone structure in India
and was originally commissioned by the emperor Ashoka the
Great in the 3rd century BC. Its nucleus was a simple
hemispherical brick structure built over the relics of
the Buddha. It was crowned by the chatra, a parasol-like
structure symbolising high rank, which was intended to honour
and shelter the relics. The construction work of this stupa was
overseen by Ashoka's wife, Devi herself, who was the daughter
of a merchant of Vidisha. Sanchi was also her birthplace as well
as the venue of her and Ashoka's wedding. In the 1st century
BC, four profusely carved toranas or ornamental gateways and
a balustrade encircling the whole structure was added.

15. Bharhut
Sanchi
Shunga Dynasty (ca. 185-73 BCE)
Sarnath
History of Architecture(Year 1) By Anjith Augustine

16. History of Architecture(Year 1) By Anjith Augustine
SUNGA PERIOD
Stupa may have been vandalized at one point sometime in the 2nd
century BC, an event some have related to the rise of the Sunga
emperor Pusyamitra Sunga who overtook the Mauryan Empire as an
army general. It has been suggested that Pushyamitra may have
destroyed the original stupa, and his son Agnimitra rebuilt it.During the
later rule of the Sunga, the stupa was expanded with stone slabs to
almost twice its original size. The dome was flattened near the top and
crowned by three superimposed parasols within a square railing. With its
many tiers it was a symbol of the dharma, the Wheel of the Law. The
dome was set on a high circular drum meant for circumambulation,
which could be accessed via a double staircase. A second stone pathway
at ground level was enclosed by a stone balustrade with four
monumental gateways (toranas) facing the cardinal directions. The
buildings which seem to have been commissioned during the rule of the
Sunga's are the Second and Third stupas (but not the highly decorated
gateways, which are from the following Satavahana period, as known
from inscriptions), and the ground balustrade and stone casing of the
Great Stupa.

17. Principal Components of the Buddhist Stupa
History of Architecture(Year 1) By Anjith Augustine

18. Ritual of circumambulation
History of Architecture(Year 1) By Anjith Augustine

19. Great Stupa at Sanchi
plan and elevation
Dimensions:
Diameter 120’
Height (w/o parasols) 54’
Gates (torana) 34’
Four gates:
East (Birth of Buddha)
South (Enlightenment)
West (First Sermon)
North (Nirvana)
History of Architecture(Year 1) By Anjith Augustine

20. Sanchi, East Gate
Inner side
History of Architecture(Year 1) By Anjith Augustine

21. East Gate of Stupa #1 at
Sanchi
Early Andhra Period, ca.
50 BCE – 50 CE
History of Architecture(Year 1) By Anjith Augustine

22. Yakshi on East GateSanchi East Gate
History of Architecture(Year 1) By Anjith Augustine

23. History of Architecture(Year 1) By Anjith Augustine
SATVAHANA PERIOD
The gateways and the balustrade
were built and colored, then
appeared to have been commissioned
by the Satavahana.
Although made of stone, they were
carved and constructed in the manner
of wood and the gateways were
covered with narrative sculptures.
They showed scenes from the life of
the Buddha integrated with everyday
events that would be familiar to the
onlookers and so make it easier for
them to understand the Buddhist
creed as relevant to their lives.
On these stone carvings the Buddha
was never depicted as a human
figure. The human body was thought
to be too confining for the Buddha.

26. Harmika, Yasti, and Chatras on the Great Stupa, Sanchi
Harmika, Yasti, and Chatras on the Great Stupa, Sanchi

27. Lower ambulatory and stone railing of the Great Stupa,
Sanchi
Lower ambulatory and stone railing of the Great Stupa,
Sanchi

28. Half of double stairway leading to upper ambulatory of
the Great Stupa, Sanchi
Half of double stairway leading to upper ambulatory of
the Great Stupa, Sanchi

30. Upper ambulatory and stone railing of the Great Stupa,
Sanchi
Upper ambulatory and stone railing of the Great Stupa,
Sanchi

31. Eastern Torana of the Great Stupa, Sanchi, mid-1st
century BC - AD 1st century
Eastern Torana of the Great Stupa, Sanchi, mid-1st
century BC - AD 1st century

32. History of Architecture(Year 1) By Anjith Augustine
LATER PERIODS
Further stupas and other religious Buddhist structures
were added over the following centuries until the 12th
century AD. Temple 17 is probably one of the earliest
Buddhist temples as it dates to the early Gupta period. It
consists of a flat roofed square sanctum with a portico and
four pillars. The interior and three sides of the exterior are
plain and undecorated but the front and the pillars are
elegantly carved, giving the temple an almost ‘classical’
appearance (Mitra 1971).
Temple 45 was the last Buddhist temple built during 10-
11th century. Also at this time the monuments were
enclosed within a wall. With the decline of Buddhism in
India, the monuments of Sanchi went out of use and fell
into a state of disrepair. In 1818, General Taylor of the
Bengal Cavalry recorded a visit to Sanchi. At that time the
monuments appear to have been left undisturbed for long
time and in generally good preservation.

33. History of Architecture(Year 1) By Anjith Augustine
CHAITYA HALL

34. History of Architecture(Year 1) By Anjith Augustine
A chaitya is a Buddhist shrine including
a stupa
The earliest rock-cut chaityas, similar to free-
standing ones, consisted of an inner circular
chamber with pillars to create a circular path
around the stupa and an outer rectangular hall for
the congregation of the devotees. Over the course
of time, the wall separating the stupa from the hall
was removed to create an apsidal hall with
a colonnade around the nave and the stupa
The chaitya at Bhaja Caves was constructed in the
1st century BCE. It consisted of an apsidal hall with
stupa. The columns sloped inwards in the imitation
of wooden columns that would have been
structurally necessary to keep a roof up. The ceiling
was barrel-vaulted with wooden ribs set into them.
The walls were polished in the Mauryan style
Viharas or monasteries constructed with brick or
excavated from rocks are found in different parts of
India. Associated with stupas and chaityas

35. History of Architecture(Year 1) By Anjith Augustine
Chaitya hall at karle maharashtra

36. History of Architecture(Year 1) By Anjith Augustine
Chaitya hall at karle maharashtra