Sanchi - rediscovery & restoration

Continued from: Sanchi - expansion & fall

Sanchi was rediscovered in 1818, after 600 years, by General Taylor of the Bengal Cavalry, who came upon the overgrown monuments during a campaign against the Pindharas. He reported them to be in a good state of preservation, an opinion backed by Captain Fell, who visited Sanchi the next year.

Drawings of stupas 1 & 2 by Maisey, which show the damage inflicted on them by British treasure hunters

However, in 1822 Herbert Maddock, the political agent of Bhopal, aided by his zealous assistant Captain Johnson, inflicted considerable damage to the magnificent monuments, looking for treasure.

Eastern gateway and Great Stupa by Murray

Subsequently, several - more serious -  observers recorded plates at Sanchi, sending them to Numismatist and Philologist James Prinsep of the Asiatic Society. Most importantly, in 1837, Captain E. Smith copied and sent Prinsep twenty-five inscriptions and Captain W. Murray sent more drawings. The most important for Prinsep were Smith's copies of the inscriptions.

Facsimile of inscription from Sanchi copied by Captain Smith

Prinsep noticed that they all ended with two letters:He guessed (with the help of an Indian Pundit, who is seldom given any credit) that they represented the word danam (gift) and took their values to be 'D' and 'N'. He used this clue as a key to decipher the Brahmi Script. Prinsep's article in the Asiatic Society journal can be read HERE. 

The ruins, then called the 'Bhilsa Topes' ('Bhilsa' being the mediaeval name of Vidisha, tope being Hindi for a stupa) were further explored, beginning about 1840, by the 'Father of the Indian Archaeological Survey', by Captain (later Major General) Alexander Cunningham. Together with Captain (later General)  Frederick Charles Maisey he managed to recover a great deal of valuable material.  Unfortunately, the primitive techniques they used damaged the monuments further.

Great Stupa in 1906 [original at Victoria & Albert Museum]

The structures were not in good shape, and restoration work was begun in 1881, supervised by Major HH Cole, the Curator. However, work was slow and did not go very far (as may be observed from the 1906 photo of the Great Stupa, above). The credit for the restoration of the Sanchi site should go to Sir John Marshall, the Director General of Archaeological Survey of India, under whom this work was carried out in 1912-1919.

Sanchi hilltop site plan

Altogether over 50 monuments were excavated and conserved. Of these 30 were stupas which, apart from the Great Stupa and Stupas 2 & 3, were quite small, as exemplified by Stupas 28 and 29, seen below.

View from the top: the lesser domes of Stupas 28 & 29 adjacent to Stupa 5, which is hidden behind the trees

Before Marshall came on the scene, however, there had been much looting of the site. Articles such as the beautiful thrice-bent (tivanka) Bodhisattva torso from Temple 45 (9th century, now at the Victoria and Albert Museum) ended up in private collections. Indeed, there was even a proposal to cart off the fences and gateways of the Great Stupa to England!

Figurines of Sariputta and Maha-Mogallana

In 1851, Cunningham found two relic boxes inside Stupa 3, engraved with the names of Sariputta and Maha-Moggallana, the two chief disciples (agra-sravakas) of the Buddha, containing bone-relics. These found their way to London and ended up in the Victoria and Albert Museum. 

In 1939 the Maha Bodhi Society (the Buddhist organisation established by Sir Edwin Arnold and the Sri Lankan Buddhist leader Anagarika Dharmapala) requested their return. In 1947 the relics arrived in India and were entrusted to the  Maha Bodhi Society. After touring India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka (parts of the relics remained in the latter two countries), they were returned in 1952 to Sanchi, where they were enshrined in the newly-built Chetiyagiri Vihara by Prime Minister Shri Jawarhalal Nehru.

Chetiyagiri Vihara

Fortunately, the Indian government has separated the modern Vihara premises from the archaeological site, preventing the inhibition of the latter's pristine splendour (as has taken place, for example in Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka). 

Guides in shalwar khameez & dupatta

Visitors are shown around the site by pulchritudinous women guides, dressed in monochromatic but not displeasing attire. For a touch of colour, one should look at the local visitors from Bhopal and Vidisha, in their sarees, shalwar khameezes (pajamas), lehenga cholis (long skirts & blouses) and dupattas (scarves).

Visitors: sarees, shalwar khameezes, and (girl in orange) lehenga choli & dupatta; the little boy wears a Nehru waistcoat with his shalwar khameez.

The site offers breathtaking vistas of the Malwa countryside, particularly from the upper pradakshina patha of the Great stupa. The view of the landscape from near the Western gateway is HERE.

The Archaeological Museum, run by the Archaeological Survey of India, is at the foot of the hill, between the station and the archaeological site. It holds many of the items excavated from Sanchi and other nearby sites, including material returned from Britain.

Barrier free

In co-operation with the Bhopal-based voluntary organisation Arushi, the Archaeological Survey of India has made the site the first in India to be barrier-free for physically challenged people. The stupas have been made wheelchair-accessible, special tactile walkways have been constructed for easy access and manoeuvrability, information plaques and signs in braille have been made available, along with beepers and a Braille map, while toilets and canteen areas which cater to the otherwise-abled have been provided. Most importantly, the guides and other staff have been trained and sensitised to deal with physically challenged tourists, including those in wheelchairs and with visual impairments.

The people speak a local dialect, but standard Hindi is understood. Because of tourists from Sri Lanka, Sinhala and English are also widely spoken, and it is possible to get by in these languages as well.

Sanchi - map of location

Sanchi can be visited with ease from Bhopal, which is well connected by air (domestically, from  Ahmedabad, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Indore, Mumbai & Raipur) and rail as well as road. There are road and rail links from Vidisha. Regular bus services connect Sanchi with Vidisha, Raisen, Bhopal, Sagar, Indore and Gwalior. 

There are few places to stay in Sanchi: the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Board's Gateway Retreat hotel (**½, bookable on-line) and its Gateway Cafeteria (also bookable on-line), the Krishna Hotel and the New Jaiswal Lodge. There is also a Public Works Department 'circuit house', but this must be booked through the Raisen District Collector. 

It was due to the dearth of rooms in Sanchi that the governments of Sri Lanka and Madhya Pradesh co-operated to build the New pilgrims' rest house for the Mahabodhi Society, the Sanchi Vandana Niketana (Sinhala) or Theertha Niketan (Hindi). It includes an image house and sermon rooms for pilgrims. Rooms can be booked by contacting the resident monk.

Mahabodhi Pilgrims' Rest and temple

During the pilgrimage season (Autumn-Winter), rooms are difficult to come by, so it may be easier to stay at Vidisha or even Bhopal (where there are many more hotels) and commute. 

However you may come, or wherever you may stay, Sanchi should not be missed. It is one of the great archaeological sites of the world. Unfortunately it is not sufficiently appreciated. Neither, it should be noted, is the rest of incredible Madhya Pradesh which, while resplendent with ancient sites, beautiful vistas and nature reserves (Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli stories were set in 'Seeonee' and the Mowgli Pench Sanctuary is located there)  receives only a fraction of the more than 5 million visitors to India each year.