A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c9.s2.23

c9.s2.23

In 1873 Cunningham discovered at Bharhut (more accurately 'Barhut', 24° 37′ N., 80° 53′ E.), about midway between Allahabad and Jabalpur, the remains of a Buddhist *stūpa*, surrounded by a stone railing adorned with sculptures of surprising richness and interest. The *stūpa* had then been almost wholly carried off by greedy villagers in search of bricks, who treated the sculptures with equal ruthlessness, and were prevented from destroying them all only by the great weight of the stones. During the following years to 1876, Cunningham and his assistant uncovered the ruins and saved a large number of the sculptured stones by sending them to Calcutta, where they now form one of the chief treasures of the Indian Museum.¹ Everything left on the site was taken away by the country people and converted to their base uses.