Monday, November 19, 2012

Poetry in Stone - 13

This is 13th in the series on the rich cultural heritage of ancient temples in India.  In Sanchi not only the Stupas are interesting  but the beautifully carved gateways (tornas) are one of the most elegant structures. There are 4 such carved gateways in 4 cardinal directions, depicting life scenes of Buddha and Jataka stories around the Great Stupa.



The South Gate mark is the main entrance to the Stupa. The inscription on the Southern Gate states that they have been carved by ivory carvers of nearby Vidisha. These gateways were constructed during 1st century B.C with Southern Gate being the oldest.



The architraves are carried on lion caryatids. Riders mounted on deer and horses occupy the cross squares. Pictured on the outer face of the architraves from top to bottom are: a lustration of Lakshmi, a royal visit of Ashoka to the stupa, and a scene with dwarves among foliage.



On the left post there are various interesting carvings. One of them is King Ashoka with his queens. 



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41 comments:

Al said...

Those are incredible gateways with such detailed carvings. Excellent captures.

Rakesh Vanamali said...

it is difficult not to be amazed by architecture of those times.

Marvelous pictures.

Ranjana's craft blog said...

Loved the carvings...especially in the last photo...
You are really lucky to see all these

xinex said...

Beautiful architecture!...Christine

SwedishCorner ~ DownUnder...Pernilla said...

Happy Blue Monday!
Lovely pix :)
~Pernilla

http://joshidaniel.com/ said...

those are some nice carvings :)

R Niranjan Das said...

Great carvings. You have captured them well.

www.rajniranjandas.blogspot.in

eileeninmd said...

The temple, gateway and carvings are just amazing. Wonderful photos, Rajesh!

Lowell said...

The 1st century BCE? Incredible. You have really turned my understanding of India upside down. These are so beautiful and show so much creativity and skill!

Jeevan said...

Your photos captured the details, Remarkable! Marvelous post.

SmilingSally said...

What beautiful carvings. Thanks for playing today.

Happy Blue Monday, Rajesh.

Travel Quest said...

Lovely series of Photo Rajesh :) hope you could visit my entry too Travel Quest

George said...

This is absolutely beautiful. The details of the carvings are amazing. I'm glad they are in such fine condition, considering how old they are.

LindyLouMac said...

I have been enjoying your blog for sometime now and travelling virtually via you to India. I am going to add your blog to my Travel Tales blogroll and thought you would like to know this. :)

Sylvia K said...

What a fascinating place, Rajesh!! The carvings are amazing! Superb captures for the day!!

Unknown said...

Beautiful carvings!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

Leovi said...

Really impressive works of art, a true wonder.

Fun60 said...

I am astounded that these magnificent carvings have withstood the passage of time so well.

Photo Cache said...

every single square inch of the torna is decorated it seems. how delightful to look at.

Carver said...

The bas reliefs on the gates are wonderful.

Indrani said...

Amazing work! I hope they are preserved well for long.

Sridharan said...

Superb..!

Anonymous said...

Wow - that gate is magnificent!

Krishna/കൃഷ്ണ said...

beautiful photos...

thanks

Roger Owen Green said...

love the facade!
ROG, ABC Wednesday team

Reader Wil said...

How very, very beautiful! Although I don't know anything about hinduism I enjoy seeing these very detailed carvings and decorations telling the stories of your rich history.
Thank you for sharing!

Maude Lynn said...

How beautiful!

lorik said...

Beautiful!! And such a beautiful and important place too. I visited there long ago:)

Gattina said...

Wow ! what an art work, it's beautiful !!

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

So beautiful, so intricate. I looked a long time at the carvings of people in the bottom picture...they are rendered so perfectly. Amazing.

Joy said...

The gateway is impressive from a distance but the close up photos of all the intricate details make it an amazing work of art.

P.N. Subramanian said...

Wonderful captures. You could have informed while visiting Sanchi. I am at Bhopal. W could have joined and I could have taken to certain other important but less known places around.

Rajesh said...

Thank you all for appreciating this wonderful craftsmanship.

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

clever craft, I like the swans, same as those here in NZ.

Chubskulit Rose said...

I always look forward to your entries as it introduces us more and more to India.

Hooray, I finally get my PC back so I am playing catch up with all of the S entries this week.


Rose, ABC Wednesday Team

Jessica said...

What a beautiful structures :-) am sure it is beautiful when you are their in person :-) Dropping by for Blue Monday :-)

http://www.jessysadventure.com/2012/11/a-blue-post-card-doctors-appointment.html

Anonymous said...

beautiful and rich heritage

Anonymous said...

Loved the Images..i wish to visit the Place Someday.. :D

Unknown said...

Excellent captures of details of architecture.

Puru@ShadowsGalore said...

The iconic stupa of Sanchi. Had first saw its photographs in my school text book and have always wanted to go there. You have captured it beautifully :)

Anonymous said...

What a lovely place