The four carved gateways or toranas of the Great Stupa at Sanchi were added under which dynasty?
- A.Mauryas
- B.Shungas
- C.Satavahanas
- D.Guptas
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, Satavahanas. The four toranas that stand at the cardinal points of the Great Stupa were carved in the first century before Christ in the Satavahana period, and an inscription on one of them records the gift of ivory carvers of Vidisha. The panels show jataka stories and scenes from the Buddha's life, with the Buddha represented only by symbols such as the wheel, the empty throne, the footprints and the bodhi tree.
Option A, the Mauryas, built the original brick stupa under Ashoka and set up the pillar, but not the gateways. Option B, the Shungas, enlarged the stupa, encased it in stone and added the railing and the staircase, which makes them the commonest wrong answer here. Option D, the Guptas, left Temple 17 at the site, an early flat-roofed temple that is studied as a first step in Indian temple architecture, but they came centuries after the gateways were carved.
Read the full article: Ancient Madhya Pradesh: Bhimbetka, Sanchi and Ujjain
Practice Questions
View allThe rock shelters of Bhimbetka are located in which district of Madhya Pradesh?
- A.Sehore
- B.Raisen
- C.Dhar
- D.Rewa
Show answer
The Bhimbetka rock shelters lie in Raisen district, in the foothills of the Vindhyan range south of Bhopal, within the forest now protected as Ratapani.
Read the full explanation →Who brought the Bhimbetka rock shelters to the notice of scholars in 1957?
- A.H. D. Sankalia
- B.V. S. Wakankar
- C.R. D. Banerji
- D.Daya Ram Sahni
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Vishnu Shridhar Wakankar, an archaeologist from Ujjain, noticed the rocky outcrops from a train in 1957 and went on to explore and record the shelters and their paintings.
Read the full explanation →The Great Stupa at Sanchi was originally built during the reign of which ruler?
- A.Chandragupta Maurya
- B.Ashoka
- C.Pushyamitra Shunga
- D.Kanishka
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The Great Stupa, Stupa 1 at Sanchi, was raised in brick in the third century before Christ in the reign of Ashoka, who also set up a pillar at the site bearing the schism edict and crowned by a lion capital.
Read the full explanation →Relics of Sariputta and Mahamoggallana, two chief disciples of the Buddha, were recovered from which structure at Sanchi?
- A.Stupa 1
- B.Stupa 2
- C.Stupa 3
- D.Temple 17
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The relic caskets of Sariputta and Mahamoggallana, the two chief disciples of the Buddha, were found in Stupa 3 at Sanchi, which stands a short distance north-east of the Great Stupa and has a single gateway.
Read the full explanation →Ujjain is situated on the bank of which river?
- A.Betwa
- B.Shipra
- C.Chambal
- D.Tapti
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Ujjain stands on the Shipra, also written Kshipra, a tributary of the Chambal, and it is on the ghats of this river that the Simhastha, the Kumbh of Ujjain, is held every twelve years.
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