Sculptural aspects of Sanchi Stupa . State the reasons for the survival of this Stupa.
Sculpture
i. Depiction of rural scene with thatched huts and trees.
ii. The empty seat to indicate the meditation of the Buddha, and The Stupa was meant to represent the mahaparinibbana.
iii. Another frequently used symbol was the wheel .it stood for the first sermon of the Buddha, delivered at Sarnath..
iv. The shalabhanjika motif suggests that many people who turned to Buddhism enriched it with their own preBuddhist and even non-Buddhist beliefs, practices and ideas..
v. Animals like elephants, horses, monkeys and cattle,Elephants were depicted to signify strength and wisdom..
vi. Maya, the mother of the Buddha, others identify her with a popular goddess, Gajalakshmi – literally, the goddess of good fortune
vii. Any other relevant point
Sanchi’s preservation
i. When Sanchi was “discovered” in 1818, three of its four gateways were still standing, the fourth was lying on the spot where it had fallen and the mound was in good condition.
ii. Nineteenth-century Europeans like the French and English sought Shahjehan Begum’s permission to take away the eastern gateway, which was the best preserved, to be displayed in museums in France and England. But she refused.
iii. The rulers of Bhopal, Shahjehan Begum and her successor Sultan Jehan Begum, provided money for the preservation of the ancient site.
iv. She funded the museum that was built there as