Stupa
I stare at carved
panels
And wonder -
Is this how Sanchi
would look
Trapped inside a hall?
Two thousand years of
history
At least some have
been preserved
The surreal work of
the Sungas
A lost world carved in
stone
But most people rush
by -
They don’t even know
what these ruins are,
Like any other debris
Gathering dirt in a
showcase
But if you touch a
piece of stone
Perhaps the lotus, the
wheel -
You will get
transported
To the Bharhut of
golden times
A large stupa, ornate
gateways
And the Buddha’s last remains
-
Maybe you can see its
birth
Piyadasi’s dreams, a Hellenistic
touch;
But careful - one wrong
breath,
Or a grumbling whisper
And they all come
crashing down;
Bharhut reduced to
ruins
But wait, do you see
it?
A reliquary left
behind
Its path hidden in these
very rocks
Breathing life,
whispering the truth
The treasure visible
to those alone
Who can touch the
lotus blossoms
Of a long-forgotten
past,
A stupa’s dream…
The Bharhut Stupa
is one of the earliest surviving examples of Buddhist monument architecture in
India, originally built in the 2nd century BCE during the Shunga Dynasty,
likely over an earlier Mauryan foundation associated with Ashoka (very
similar to the more popular Sanchi Stupa). What made Bharhut distinctive was
its richly carved sandstone railings and gateways, depicting Jataka tales,
yakshis, lotus medallions, and symbolic representations of the Buddha (before
anthropomorphic images became common). The craftsmanship is narrative and
descriptive rather than idealised, offering a rare glimpse into early Buddhist
storytelling, regional artistic styles, and even cross-cultural influences such
as subtle Hellenistic elements.
The site was brought
back to scholarly attention in the 1870s by Alexander Cunningham, the
founder of the Archaeological Survey of India. During his excavations, he
documented and removed many of the sculptural fragments to preserve them from
decay and looting. However, transporting these relics was not without
mishap—some pieces were reportedly lost when a boat carrying them along the
Ganges system sank, a reminder of the fragile journey from ruin to
preservation. Cunningham’s work, though shaped by colonial priorities, was
crucial in reconstructing Bharhut’s layout and bringing its artistic and
historical significance to global attention. (There are some debates as to
where the ship sank and some accounts report of a ship carrying these to the British
Museum and sinking near Sri Lanka).
Today, a large portion
of Bharhut’s surviving remains are still in India - housed in the Indian
Museum, where the railings and gateways have been partially reassembled
within gallery halls. Walking through these exhibits can feel much like what
your poem evokes—fragments of a once-grand stupa, now silent yet eloquent,
arranged in a controlled space far from their original landscape. The carvings
still retain their narrative vitality, but their displacement also underscores
a quiet loss: the transformation of a living sacred site into an archaeological
memory, preserved yet removed from its original context.
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