Stūpa no. 2 at Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh

The Stūpa No. 2 at Sanchi, also called Sanchi II, is one of the oldest existing Buddhist Stūpas in India, and part of the Buddhist complex of Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh. It is of particular interest since it has the earliest known important displays of decorative reliefs in India, probably anterior to the reliefs at the Mahābodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, or the reliefs of Bharhut. It displays what has been called “the oldest extensive Stūpa decoration in existence.” Stūpa No. 2 is therefore considered as the birthplace of Jātaka illustrations.

These are altogether 455 medallions and half-medallions, or which 293 consist in lotus flowers, and 126 in a lotus with another motif. Only 36 of the medallions have another subject. Some authors consider these reliefs as the prelude to the iconography of the reliefs in Bharhut (100-80 BCE) and of the later and much more evolved depictions on the toraṇas of the Great Stūpa in Sanchi (1st century BCE/CE).

It is thought that the earliest reliefs from the last quarter of the 2nd century BCE were produced by craftsmen from the area of Gandhāra in north-western Indian, a central Indo-Greek region, because they left mason’s marks in Kharoṣṭi (a script used around the area of Gandhāra), as opposed to the local Brahmi script. This seems to imply that these foreign workers were responsible for some of the earliest and sometimes quite foreign motifs and figures that can be found on the railings of the stūpa.

Sacred relics were enshrined within the body of the Stupa No. 2, which yielded the relics and remains of ten elders who, during the reign of King Asoka, took part in the 3rd Council or were sent abroad as missionaries by royal command. These include the relics of one Mogaliputa, who may have been the elder who led these activities.