Bharhut
| Bharhut | |
|---|---|
  | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Buddhism |
| District | Satna |
| Region | Vindhya Range |
| Ecclesiastical or organizational status | Stupa ruins present |
| Year consecrated | 300–200 BCE |
| Status | Artifacts Removed |
| Location | |
| Location | India |
| State | Madhya Pradesh |
  Shown within India | |
| Geographic coordinates | 24°26′49″N 80°50′46″E / 24.446891°N 80.846041°ECoordinates: 24°26′49″N 80°50′46″E / 24.446891°N 80.846041°E |
| Pilgrimage to |
| Buddha's Holy Sites |
|---|
 |
| The Four Main Sites |
| Four Additional Sites |
| Other Sites |
|
| Later Sites |
Bharhut is a village located in the Satna district of Madhya Pradesh, central India. It is known for its famous relics from a Buddhist stupa. What makes Bharhut panels unique is that each panel is explicitly labelled in Brahmi characters mentioning what the panel depicts. The major donor for the Bharhut stupa was King Dhanabhuti.[2][1]
The Bharhut sculptures represent some of the earliest examples of Indian and Buddhist art, later than the monumental art of Ashoka (circa 260 BCE), and slightly later than the early Shunga-period reliefs on railings at Sanchi Stupa No.2 (starting circa 115 BCE).[1] Though more provincial in quality than the sculpture at Sanchi, Amaravati Stupa and some other sites, a large amount of sculpture has survived, generally in good condition. Recent authors date the reliefs of the railings of Bharhut circa 125–100 BCE, and clearly after Sanchi Stupa No.2, compared to which Bharhut has a much more developed iconography.[1][3] The torana gateway was made slightly later than the railings, and is dated to 100–75 BCE.[1] Historian Ajit Kumar gives a later date to Bharhut, the 1st century CE, based on stylistic comparisons with datable works of art from the Art of Mathura, particularly sculptures inscribed in the name of ruler Sodasa.[4] Many of the Bharhut remains are now located in the Indian Museum in Kolkata.
Buddhism continued to survive in Bharhut until 12th century. A Small Buddhist temple was enlarged around 1100 AD and a new statue of Buddha was installed.[5] A large Sanskrit inscription from the same period was found at the site, however it appears to have been lost.[6] This is different from the inscription Lal Pahad inscription of AD 1158 mentioning the Kalachiri kings.[7]
Some recent reevaluations have tended to uncouple Bharhut from the Shunga period, and rather attribute the stupa to the 1st century CE, based on artistic similarities with better dated Mathura art and a questioning of the antiquity of the Bharhut inscriptions (particularly the Dhanabhuti inscriptions) suggested by traditional paleography.[8][9]
Bharhut stupa[]
Structure[]
The Bharhut stupa may have been first built by the Maurya king Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE, but many works of art, particularly the gateway and railings, were apparently added during the Shunga period, with many reliefs from the 2nd century BCE, or later.[10] Alternatively, the sculptures made have been added during the reign of the Sughanas, a northern Buddhist kingdom.[4]
The central stupa was surrounded by a stone railing and four Torana gates, in an arrangement similar to that of Sanchi. A large part of the railing has been recovered, but only one of the four torana gates remains.
An epigraph on a pillar of the gateway of the stupa mentions its erection "during the rule of the Sugas by Vatsiputra Dhanabhuti".[11][4] The expression used is "Suganam Raje", may mean "during the rule of the Shungas", although not without ambiguity as it could also be "during the rule of the Sughanas", a northern Buddhist kingdom.[12][4] There is no other instance of the name "Shunga" in the epigraphical record of India.[13] The inscription reads:
The Dhanabhuti inscription1. Suganam raje raño Gāgīputasa Visadevasa
2. pautena, Gotiputasa Āgarajusa putena
3. Vāchhīputena Dhanabhūtina kāritam toranām
4. silākammamto cha upamno.
During the reign of the Sugas (Sughanas, or Shungas) the gateway was caused to be made and the stone-work presented by Dhanabhūti, the son of Vāchhī, son of Agaraju, the son of a Goti and grandson of king Visadeva, the son of Gāgī.
If the attribution is to be taken as "Shungas", since King Dhanabhuti was making a major dedication to a Buddhist monument, and on the contrary the Shungas are known to have been Hindu monarchs, it seems that Dhanabhuti himself was not a member of the Shunga dynasty.[16] Neither is he known from Shunga regnal lists.[16][17] His mention of "in the reign of the Shungas" also suggests that he was not himself a Shunga ruler, only that he may have been a tributary of the Shungas, or a ruler in a neighbouring territory, such as Kosala or Panchala.[17][16]
Builders[]
Mason's marks in Kharosthi have been found on several elements of the Bharhut remains, indicating that some of the builders at least came from the north, particularly from Gandhara where the Kharoshti script was in use.[18][20][21] Cunningham explained that the Kharosthi letters were found on the balustrades between the architraves of the gateway, but none on the railings which all had Indian markings, summarizing that the gateways, which are artistically more refined, must have been made by artists from the North, whereas the railings were made by local artists.[19]
