Was in Bhopal. Realized Sanchi Stupa was a must see. All those history lessons....the stupa, the garba griha, gopurams.....Armed with our water and some fruits and snacks, we set out from our friends place in Habibganj...in a hired SUV.....impressed with the roads....and how well this World Heritage is being maintained.
...yes!!....there it is....we approach the main Stupa...
.....the front gopuram of the Sanchi stupa...
....the ornately carved gopurams...
.......some of the figures carved so intricately show people with curly hair.....a reference to the greek influence during those times of Chandragupta Maurya...
....another gopuram to the side....
...another smaller stupa beside...
...a monastery...which looked to have been a big central hall with rooms all around....and a reservoir
.....shady and incredibly comfortable despite the temperature.....
.....what is it about temple ruins....that pulls at your heart....the beauty, the art or the mystery of what life must have been like so many years back...?
standing tall....some majestic looking pillars....Grecian like....
.......An Ashokan edict with fading inscriptions in Pali...local language.....spreading Buddhism....
...some other Ashokan pillars which had been razed to the ground....now housed under theses shelters....
......some more ruins....of......??....mystery...
..the heaped rock carvings excavated by ASI....numbered and kept....
.....a view from the top....the chap at the handicrafts cafe...which was selling artefacts with snacks and tea, pointed out at the Udaigiri caves....which he said could be approached by a new road...which was very good...
......nature and history co existing side by side....
....a modern addition...accomodation for Sri Lankan Buddhist monks...
....the "smooth as butter" road from Sanchi to Udaigiri caves, near Vidisha....
....we reach Udaigiri caves
.......the caves cut out of rocks with carved sculptures within....
.....the Tawa cave......can you guess why....?... :)
........you can rest your grey cells....the answer is here....
.......one of the earliest and largest carving of Vishnu sleeping on a snake, resting hid hand on the palm of his hand...
.....BUT WHY DID ASI HAVE TO CAGE HIM?.......what an insult to art and sculpture....and beauty...they could have used laminated glass, thereby protecting a historical artpiece ...without creating a visually displeasing purdah between the Sculpted and the Connoisseur of Beauty...
......the first half....
.....and the second half....lols....apologies to the reclining Vishnu...we had to slip our mobiles inside the grills and take close ups....our hearts in our mouth....if our mobile slipped and fell inside??......
....some beautiful sculptures inside.....but why the grills... is Archaeological Soceity of India listening?......hat about using laminated glass framed with some grunge effect?....where are our sculptors forums?
....ancient folklore...Varah...incarnation of Vishnu...rescuing Mother Earth when Demon Hrinakshya took her under water...
....the cosmological fight between good and evil....Varah rescuing Mother earth from Hrinakshya...
....the first historical depictions of godesses...Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati....notice the wave like carvings depicting water...
.....luncheon time...after a lot of history lessons.......Gateway resort....nice clean place by MP tourism....good affordable food...
....nice ambience...nice artwork surround spaces......
Sanchi and Udaigiri caves are for those who prefer to see history come alive. They are for those who love breathing in the smell of an era long gone. They are for that crazy lot who find beauty in stone and the stories they tell.... and........ the mysteries they hide...and they are for those trigger happy shooters who will go to lengths to shoot air, water , fire or earth!!!!
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