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History Optional PYQ Master Pack · Model answer

Write brief essay on architectural & artistic features of the great stupa at Sanchi.

  • UPSC 1997
  • Mauryan Empire

The Great Stupa at Sanchi is less a single monument than a palimpsest of three centuries of Buddhist patronage. An Ashokan brick core was enlarged and clad by the Sungas, then given its most celebrated ornament — the carved gateways — under the Satavahanas.

You are reading the opening of the model answer. The full answer is part of the History Optional PYQ Master Pack.

What the full answer covers

  • Three Phases of Construction
  • Elements of the Mature Stupa
  • From Bharhut's Stiffness to Sanchi's Naturalism
  • Aniconism and the Manushi Buddhas
  • Patronage as Social Record

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