Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c11.12

c11.12

The gateways of Sanchi are five in number, four of them forming the entrances to the main stupa, while there is one isolated in front of another adjacent stupa (No. 3), which was built in the first century B.C., the gateway having been added somewhat later. Although all are of the torana type and have been made to provide an important part of the scheme as a whole, they are really decorative additions not an essential part of the structure nor introduced to meet any special need. This ornamental purpose is realized when it is seen that the framework of each gateway was utilized entirely for the accommodation of the sculpture with which it is so lavishly overlaid. In their intention therefore these toranas recall the doorways of Romanesque and Gothic churches which Ruskin has remarked depict the Bible in stone, the Buddhist example displaying in the same graphic manner much of the philosophy and inspiration of the creed it served. Few portals in any style of architecture can excel the array of rich symbolism and imagery which has been portrayed with such dramatic intensity on the Sanchi toranas, the result entirely of Indian tradition and genius.