Wars for Peace

A Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) is an Indian Railways electric train designed for short-to-medium distance, connecting semi-urban and rural areas with major cities, typically operating on 100–200 km routes. I learnt this last year when I went from Kolkata to Murshidabad and then had to transfer from Murshidabad Junction station to Azimgunj Junction station for my onward journey to Koch Behar.

MEMU trains run less frequently than suburban trains (even readers who are not from Metro cities in India will know what these trains are because the Mumbai suburban has been turned into folklore through cinema and popular culture. The suburban trains in other cities are nearly the same) and over longer distances. The train from Bhopal to Sanchi was one such.

My last visit to Bhopal was more than forty years ago. I had no memories except for the unscheduled halt that the train made at Sanchi station giving an awestruck teenager a glimpse of the famous monument clearly visible to the naked eye from the station.

The train was late and when it eventually snaked its way into Sanchi station, it was hard to spot the stupa. Evidently, much construction and tree-growth had happened in the intervening years to block a clear view of the stupa. I had to go up the foot over bridge and find an opportune gap between buildings and trees to see the stupa on top of the hill, about one kilometer away.

I quickly negotiated fare for an auto to take me up the hill and deposit me at the ticket window for the monument. The return train to Bhopal was inconveniently timed and I had to make sure I made the most of the time available for this visit.

The stupa is much larger when viewed in person than I had believed through the photographs that I had seen. Stupa No. 1, that is. There is Stupa No. 3 as well in the immediate vicinity which is smaller than Stupa No. 1, but is similar in many respects.

There are relatively few tourists around at this time of the day. I take in the two Stupas and the temples in their vicinity. A group of students arrive - boisterous, selfie-hunters. It is good to see the young take time to visit the monument. They are largely respectful, if not very interested in detail. Somewhat as I would have been at that age.

I step away. Towards Monastery 51. That anodyne name hides centuries of active life for monks and students – much as the students thronging the more famous Stupa a few meters away on the west. Monastery 51 is now just a large paved courtyard, with low steps and thick walls marking where the rooms would have stood.

Few people have come this way.

Even fewer people venture farther towards Stupa No. 2. There are times along the gently sloping 350m path when I find myself wondering if I am on the right path at all. Reassuringly, the Stupa appears into view in a clearing at the edge of the hill. It is similar to Stupa No. 1 in having a balustrade all around it, but it has no gateways or chhatri. Stupa No. 3 has one gateway and a more modest chhatri, but no balustrade.

It is quiet. Something about the place spells peace. I could literally hear a leaf fall off the branch and float down to earth. There is a pond nearby, across the approach path. I can hear water striders skip on the water.

I go around the Stupa a couple of times. Then I head back to Stupa No. 1 on the top of the hill.

The toranas (gateways) are the most elaborately decorated feature of the stupa. “Stories and facts of great religious and historical significance, enlivened with bas-relief and high-relief techniques, are also depicted. The quality of craftsmanship in representing the gamut of symbolism through plants, animals, human beings, and Jataka stories shows the development of art though the integration of indigenous and non-indigenous sculpting traditions,” as the UNESCO citation reads. Hiding in plain sight among all the decorative elements is the story of the wars that broke out in the immediate aftermath of the Buddha’s death. After the death of the Buddha, the Mallakas of Kushinagar wanted to keep his ashes, but other kingdoms, each wanting the ashes, went to war and besieged the city of Kushinagar. Finally, an agreement was reached, and the Buddha's cremation relics were divided among 8 royal families and his disciples. This is depicted on the lowermost of the three panels on the inside of the southern gateway.

Emperor Ashoka is said to have subsequently further sub-divided the ashes and distributed them all over the country – across 84,000 stupas! This happened a couple of centuries later. Ashoka was able to retrieve the ashes from seven of the original eight warring kingdoms, but not the Nagas. This is also depicted on the southern gateway.

While there are an overwhelmingly large number of stories celebrating Buddha’s life and events among the carvings on the gates, the presence of armies and warriors among the panels is a reminder that sometimes wars have been fought to celebrate and ensure peace.

The forms of the capitals and the presence of griffins among the carvings is a reminder of Greek interactions and influences, in the wake of Alexander’s campaigns eastwards to the threshold of India.

I turn back for one last look. It is thrilling to think that Ashoka once stood here and reviewed the Stupa on the same hill, even though that was a smaller, older version.

There is just enough time left for me to grab a meagre lunch at one of the restaurants at the foot of the hill, and walk back to the train station.

The MEMU train is late again.