Have you ever wanted to read stories not off books but of beautifully carved stone pillars? Have you ever wanted to travel 2000 years back in time? Have you ever wanted to be at a place from where a great world religion spread? I wanted to and I did this by visiting the Sanchi Stupa situated in Madhya Pradesh. The Stupa was built by Ashoka in 3rd century BC and it contains the ashes of Lord Buddha. As I entered the premises, a very colorful tree welcomed me. The tree was covered with Buddhist prayer flags. These flags are believed to carry their positive energy with the wind and are known to bring harmony in people’s lives.
Surrounded by stone structures all around stands Lord Buddha’s Stupa .It has four beautifully carved gateways which depict the Jatak Kathay (A must read if you already haven’t).The gateways are so intricately sculpted that one can identify emotions, mood of the scene and even the ethnicity of people. From the tale of monkey who sacrifices for his clan to the story of how Siddhartha became Buddha, from the scene depicting foretelling of Buddha’s birth to the one where the young prince gives away all his wealth, these pillars will tell you all the stories.
Engraved on the pillars is also the Brahmi script. It is amusing how even after all these years the inscriptions remain so legible.
After seeing the main Stupa I trekked down to see the monastery built by Ashoka for the monks who practiced here. It is so easy to imagine hundreds of monks going about their daily activities, meditating below a banyan tree, bathing in a nearby lake and eating off the giant Bhikshuk bowl.
A little further is a smaller Stupa which contains the ashes of two genius disciples of Buddha. I went around the Stupa and could see vast expanse of fields, the entire city of Vidisha and a train going in the distance. Standing at the stone stupa that was built around 3000 years ago, I actually felt like staring into the future.
Travel tips.
#Sanchi is situated very close to Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh. Bhopal is easily accessible by air, road and rail transport.
#When you come to Sanchi don’t forget to take a travel guide (human or in form of a book) to uncover the wonderful mysteries that this place has to tell.
#The Madhya Pradesh tourism offers a wonderful accommodation option in Sanchi which goes by the name of Gateway Retreat. A luxurious hotel situated just 10 minutes away from the Stupas is a perfect place to relax and rejuvenate your soul. If you are feeling a bit more adventurous there is also the jungle resort situated at an hours distance from Sanchi, right behind the Udaygiri caves.
#In the past few years, technology has made travel planning very easy. I hadn’t heard about Sanchi , until it popped up as a suggestion for me on www.metripping.com. It’s a really cool website where you enter your trip dates, budget, the kind of accommodation you prefer, the kind of experiences you are looking for and it suggests the top three destinations that match your choices with the option to book at the best prices. It is like your very own travel genie.
Visiting Sanchi was a wonderful experience for me. It made me realize how great civilizations have been nothing but a blip in the time of the universe ,but then again it also made me realize that these civilizations stay alive long after they are gone through their thoughts, their wisdom and their culture.
I liked the way you haved descibed about Sanchi. You article is really now inspiring me to visit the unexplored places like Sanchi. Looking forward to read more similar stuff written by you 🙂
Thank you. You should definitely visit it.