W-FEB -Buddhist sites in Sanchi , visually challenged FREINDLY SITE

BHOPAL, India -- Buddhist sites in Sanchi from Sunday Nov 20  will become the first friendly world heritage monuments in country for the visually challenged.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A visually challenged  FREINDLY SITE,

• Special tactile walkways,
• signages in Braille, beepers and
•  a Braille map will make the famed Buddhist monuments, including the Stupa, come alive for the visually challenged,
• they  will also be also allowed to "feel" the grandeur in every sense., ASI authorities generally prevent visitors from touching the monuments for their better preservation

The Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi, especially the sculptured decorative work on the four gateways of Stupa no. 1, comprise an unrivalled masterpiece of Early Buddhist Art.

The site has ruins of about 50 monuments, among them are 3 large stupas, temples, a monastery and monolithic pillars. Sanchi was a major Buddhist sanctuary from the 3rd century BC til the 1st century AD.

Emperor Asoka converted to Buddhism around 250 BC, and founded a sanctuary here. He also had a 12m high stone column erected with his edicts on it.

Stupa no. 1, or the ‘Great Stupa’ is the principal monument. It has porticoes with stone railings and is over 16m high. It is particularly famous for the extraordinarily rich decorative work on the four monumental gateways or torana that provide access. The essential theme represented in the decorative work revolves around the former lives of Buddha.

There are two other stupas on site, both dating to the 2nd century BC. All stupas are crowned by a chhatra, a parasol-like structure symbolising high rank, which was intended to honour and shelter the relics.

The Buddhist monuments at Sanchi were rediscovered in 1818

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