Foreigners at Sanchi with Offerings, BC 145 (litho)

Foreigners at Sanchi with Offerings, Bc.145. The earliest form of Buddhist sacred building was a mound, now popularly known as a tope (stupa). Such mounds were sometimes of immense size. They covered a chamber of sacred relics, and were surrounded by procession paths and most elaborate railings and gateways. It was customary from quite early times to make pilgrimages to these shrines with offerings, many wealthy foreigners, especially from the north and east, undertaking them. One of the greatest of the topes is that at Sanchi, in Bhopal in Central India. Illustration for Hutchinson's History of the Nations (Hutchinson, c.1920). Note: Image has been digitally enhanced to facilitate repro.