Situated 46 km from Bhopal, Sanchi is a small village in the Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh. It is best known for its stupas and other Buddhist monuments.
It is an excavated site which was rediscovered by a British Indian officer General Taylor in 1818, but actual restoration work was initiated from 1912 to 1919 under the supervision of Sir John Marshall. The stupas of Sanchi were built by Emperor Asoka in the 3rd century BC. This stupa is considered to be the oldest stone structure of India. Originally commissioned in the third century BC, this huge hemispherical dome consists of a central chamber where the relics of Lord Buddha are placed.
This stupa was originally a low structure of brick, half the diameter of the present edifice and hemispherical in shape with raised terraces at the base. It was enclosed by a wooden railing, and a stone umbrella at the top.
This great stupa served as a nucleus to the large Buddhist establishment during the later period.
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