Depictions of Cities on the Great Stūpa of Sanchi

Early Buddhist sculpture is markedly narrative, and stories and episodes chosen for visual narration take sometimes place in a city. As sculptors must provide suitable settings, monuments display depictions of secular buildings: images of palaces, city gates and other architectural details which are extremely precious to reconstruct the aspect of ancient Indian towns. Moreover, in these representations the sculptors appear to adopt some particular conventions. In this respect, especially noteworthy appear to be the toraṇas of the Great Stūpa of Sanchi, of the 1st century CE, of which this paper presents a detailed analysis.