Bharhut is a village in the Satna district of Madhya Pradesh, central India. It is known for a Buddhist stupa, unique in that each panel is explicitly labelled in Brahmi characters saying what the panel depicts. The major donor for the Bharhut stupa was King Dhanabhuti.
The Bharhut sculptures are some of the earliest examples of Indian and Buddhist art, later than the monumental art of Ashoka (), and slightly later than the early Shunga-period reliefs on railings at Sanchi Stupa No.2 (starting circa 115 BCE). It is more provincial in quality than the sculpture at Sanchi, Amaravati Stupa and some other sites, a large amount of sculpture has survived, generally in good condition. Recent authors date the reliefs of the railings of Bharhut circa 125–100 BCE, and clearly after Sanchi Stupa No.2, compared to which Bharhut has a much more developed iconography.Didactic Narration: Jataka Iconography in Dunhuang with a Catalogue of Jataka Representations in China, Alexander Peter Bell, LIT Verlag Münster, 2000 p.18 The torana gateway was made slightly later than the railings, and is dated to 100–75 BCE. Historian Ajit Kumar gives a later date to Bharhut, the 1st century CE, based on stylistic comparisons with datable works of art from the Art of Mathura, particularly sculptures inscribed in the name of ruler Sodasa. Many of the Bharhut remains are now located in the Indian Museum in Kolkata, with others in museums in India and abroad. Little remains at the site today.
Buddhism survived in Bharhut until the 12th century. A small Buddhist temple was enlarged around 1100 AD and a new statue of Buddha was installed.Report Of A Tour In The Central Provinces Vol-ix, Alexander Cunningham, 1879 p.2–4 A large Sanskrit inscription from the same period that was found at the site appears to have been lost. This is different from the Lal Pahad inscription of AD 1158 mentioning the Kalachiri kings. Report Of A Tour In The Central Provinces In 1873–74 And 1874–75 Volume Ix, Cunningham, Alexander, 1879, p. 38
Some recent reevaluations have tended to uncouple Bharhut from the Shunga period, and rather attribute the stupa to the 1st century CE, based on artistic similarities with better dated Mathura art and a questioning of the antiquity of the Bharhut inscriptions (particularly the Dhanabhuti inscriptions) suggested by traditional paleography.
Bharhut stupa Structure
The Bharhut stupa may have been first built by the Maurya king Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE, but many works of art, particularly the gateway and railings, were apparently added during the Shunga period, with many reliefs from the 2nd century BCE, or later. Alternatively, the sculptures made have been added during the reign of the Sughanas, a northern Buddhist kingdom.
The central stupa was surrounded by a stone railing and four Torana gates, in an arrangement similar to that of Sanchi. A large part of the railing has been recovered, but only one of the four torana gates remains.
An epigraph on a pillar of the gateway of the stupa mentions its erection "during the rule of the Sugas by Vatsiputra Dhanabhuti". The expression used is "Suganam Raje", may mean "during the rule of the Shungas", although not without ambiguity as it could also be "during the rule of the Sughanas", a northern Buddhist kingdom.Between the Empires: Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE by Patrick Olivelle There is no other instance of the name "Shunga" in the epigraphical record of India. The inscription reads:
If the attribution is to be taken as "Shungas", since King Dhanabhuti was making a major dedication to a Buddhist monument, and on the contrary the Shungas are known to have been Hindu monarchs, it seems that Dhanabhuti himself was not a member of the Shunga dynasty. Neither is he known from Shunga regnal lists. His mention of "in the reign of the Shungas" also suggests that he was not himself a Shunga ruler, only that he may have been a tributary of the Shungas, or a ruler in a neighbouring territory, such as Kosala or Panchala.
Builders
Mason's marks in Kharosthi have been found on several elements of the Bharhut remains, indicating that some of the builders at least came from the north, particularly from Gandhara where the Kharoshti script was in use.The Diffusion of Classical Art in Antiquity, John Boardman, Princeton University Press, p.115Buddhist Architecture by Huu Phuoc Le p.161 Cunningham explained that the Kharosthi letters were found on the balustrades between the architraves of the gateway, but none on the railings which all had Indian markings, summarizing that the gateways, which are artistically more refined, must have been made by artists from the North, whereas the railings were made by local artists."These little balusters are of considerable interest, as their sculptured statues are much superior in artistic design and execution to those of the railing pillars. They are further remarkable in having Arian letters engraved on their bases or capitals, a peculiarity which points unmistakably to the employment of Western artists, and which fully accounts for the superiority of their execution. The letters found are p, s, a, and b, of which the first three occur twice. Now, if the same sculptors had been employed on the railings, we might confidently expect to find the same alphabetical letters used as private marks. But the fact is just the reverse, for the whole of the 27 marks found on any portions of the railing are Indian letters. The only conclusion that I can come to from these facts is that the foreign artists who were employed on the sculptures of the gateways were certainly not engaged on any part of the railing. I conclude, therefore, that the Raja of Shungas, the donor of the gateways, must have sent his own party of workmen to make them, while the smaller gifts of pillars and rails were executed by the local artists." in The stūpa of Bharhut: a Buddhist monument ornamented with numerous sculptures illustrative of Buddhist legend and history in the third century B. C, by Alexander Cunningham p. 8 (Public Domain)
According to some authors, Hellenistic sculptors had some connection with Bharhut and Sanchi as well."There is evidence of Hellensitic sculptors being in touch with Sanchi and Bharhut" in The Buddha Image: Its Origin and Development, Yuvraj Krishan, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1996, p.9 The structure as a whole as well as various elements point to Hellenistic and other foreign influence, such as the fluted bell, addorsed capital of the Persepolitan order, and the abundant use of the Hellenistic flame palmette or honeysuckle motif.The Buddha Image: Its Origin and Development, Yuvraj Krishan, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1996, pp. 17–18 Note 3 Besides the origin of its contributors however, the gateway retains a very strong Indian character in its form.
It would seem the railings were the first elements to be built, circa 125–100 BCE.Buddhist Architecture Huu Phuoc Le, Grafikol, 2010 p.149ff The great gateway was built later, circa 100–75 BCE. On artistic grounds, the decorations of the railings are considered later stylistically than those of Sanchi Stupa No.2, suggesting a date of circa 100 BCE for the reliefs of the railings, and a date of 75 BCE for the gateway.
Excavation
In 1873, Alexander Cunningham visited Bharhut. The next year, he excavated the site. Joseph David Beglar, Cunningham's assistant, continued the excavation and recorded the work through numerous photographs.
A pillar capital in Bharhut, dated to the 2nd century BCE during the Shunga Empire period, is an example of Bharhut architecture thought to incorporate Persian and Greek styles,Early Buddhist Narrative Art by Patricia Eichenbaum Karetzky p.16Early Byzantine Churches in Macedonia & Southern Serbia by R.F. Hoddinott p.17 with recumbent animal (in the style of the Pillars of Ashoka), and a central anta capital with many Hellenistic elements (rosettes, beads-and-reels), as well as a central palmette design, in a style similar to that of the Pataliputra capital.The East: Buddhists, Hindus and the Sons of Heaven, Architecture in context II, Routledge, 2015, by Christopher Tadgell p.24India Archaeological Report, Cunningham, p185-196Age of the Nandas and Mauryas by Kallidaikurichi Aiyah Nilakanta Sastri p.376 sq
The complex in Bharhut included a medieval temple (plate II), which contained a colossal figure of the Buddha, along with fragments of sculptures showing the Buddha with images of Brahma, Indra etc. Beglar also photographed a 10th-century Buddhist Sanskrit inscription, about which nothing is now known.
The ruined stupa—nothing but foundations of the main structure (see Gallery)—is still in Bharhut; however, the gateways and railings have been dismantled and reassembled at the Indian Museum, Kolkata. They contain numerous birth stories of the Buddha's previous lives, or Jataka tales. Many of them are in the shape of large, round medallions. Two of the panels are at the Freer Gallery of Art/Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington.Freer/Sackler Some years ago a pre-Devanagari inscription, from the time of King Balaldev, was found on Bharhut mountain.
The sculptures and reliefs were removed by Alexander Cunningham and were being transported to London Museum for an exhibition on SS Indus from Clacutta to London via Colombo, Sri Lanka. However, the ship ran aground in 1885 near the town of Mullaitivu in northeastern Sri Lanka. The ship wreck was lost for more than a hundred years, being re-discovered in 2014.
As representative of early Indian art
In conformity with the early aniconic phase of Buddhist art, the Buddha is only represented through symbols, such as the Dharma wheel, the Bodhi tree, an empty seat, footprints, or the triratana symbol.
The style represents the earliest phase of Indian art, and all characters are depicted wearing the Indian dhoti, except for one foreigner thought to be an Indo-Greek soldier, with Buddhist symbolism."The Diffusion of Classical Art in Antiquity, John Boardman, 1993, p.112 The Bharhut carvings are slightly later than the Sanchi Stupa No.2 reliefs and the earlier Ajanta frescos.
An unusual feature of the Bharhut panels is the inclusion of text in the narrative panels, often identifying the individuals.
Inscriptions The Monumental Prakrit inscriptions found at Bharhut are of considerable significance in tracing the history of early Indian Buddhism and Buddhist art. 136 inscriptions mention the donors. These include individuals from Vidisha, Purika (a town somewhere in the Vindhya mountains), Pataliputra (Bihar), Karhad (Maharashtra), Bhojakata (Vidarbha, eastern Maharashtra), Kosambi (Uttar Pradesh), and Nasik (Maharashtra). 82 inscriptions serve as labels for panels depicting the Jatakas, the life of the Buddha, former Manushi Buddhas, other stories and Yakshas and Yakshinis.
Structure and details The Bharhut Stupa GatewayBharhut eastern gateway.The Bharhut eastern gateway is the only remaining of four original gateways. It was made in 100-75 BCE (most probably 75 BCE based on artistic analysis), and is therefore posterior to the railings.
The craftsmen are thought to have been from northwestern India (probably Gandhara) as they inscribed mason's marks in Kharosthi, the script of Gandhara, throughout the gateway structure (7 such Kharoshthi mason's marks have been recorded on the gateway). Gandhara was a core territory of the Indo-Greek kingdom at the time, and these craftsmen probably brought Hellenistic techniques and styles to the manufacture of the gateway."There is evidence of Hellenesitic sculptors being in touch with Sanchi and Bharhut" in The Buddha Image: Its Origin and Development, Yuvraj Krishan, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1996, p.9 On the contrary mason's marks in the local Brahmi script have not been found on the gateway, but exclusively on the railings (27 Brahmi mason's mark found), indicating that local craftsmen probably created the railings.