Pillars, lion capitals and fragments of statue to the north-east of the Great Stupa, Sanchi, Bhopal State - 1875
Photograph of a group of sculpture fragments lying on the ground at Sanchi, from the Archaeological Survey of India Collections taken by Joseph David Beglar in the 1870s. These fragments are a capital with four lions seated back to back, a pillar, a torso, and a broken lion capital. They are some of the antiquities found at Sanchi and belong to the 3rd Century BC, Maurya period, the earlier phase of the Buddhist site.
Source : British Library
incrediable india;;;
Thankfully the stupa at Sanchi is today in a very good state of repair with manicured lawns surrounding it. I was there in 2008 and saw lot many Thai, Sri-Lankan and Jap devotees. The carvings on the life and times of Gautam Buddha on the sandstone gateways is awesome. The nearby Bhimbetka caves of the Gupta period are enchanting too for their carving.
Thanks to the generous funding coming from the (Buddhist) Chinese and Japanese!
The Buddhist circuit contributes significantly to inbound tourism traffic for India.
Shekhar - yes, Sarnath is another case in point.
I am told that a remote Fort near Khajuraho called Marpha has mostly ancient Buddhist statues that have not been destroyed or defaced by the successive invaders. That could be developed into a nice site for international tourism.