15 Top Tourist Places to Visit in Sanchi

At a distance of 1.5 km from Sanchi Railway Station, Sanchi Stupa or the Great Stupa is a Buddhist monument located inside the historic site of Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh. Situated atop a small hillock, it is one of the oldest Buddhist monuments in India, and among the must include places in Sanchi tour Packages.

Designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1989, the Great Stupa is the largest stupa as well as the most noteworthy of the structures at the historic site of Sanchi and counted among the best conserved ancient Stupas of central India. Also called Stupa No. 1, the Sanchi Stupa was originally built in the 3rd century BCE by the Mauryan king Ashoka and is believed to house the ashes of the Buddha and his disciples. The stupa was originally a low structure of brick, half the diameter of the present edifice hemispherical in shape with raised terraces at the base. It was damaged in the 2nd century BCE during the rule of Shunga Emperor Pushyamitra Shunga and later his son Agnimitra .....

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At a distance of 500 m from the Great Stupa, and 2 km from Sanchi Railway Station, Sanchi Stupa 2 or Stupa No.2 is a Buddhist stupa located in Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh. It is one of the Buddhist monuments in the historic site of Sanci, and among the top places to visit in Sanchi.

Stupa 2 stands on the hillside about to the west of the Great Stupa and is one of the oldest existing Buddhist stupas in India. It is believed to have been constructed during the end of the 2nd century to the 1st century BCE and is the oldest of the three Stupas from the Shunga period. It is of particular interest since it has the earliest known important displays of decorative reliefs in India, probably anterior to the reliefs at the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, or the reliefs of Bharhut.

The diameter of the dome is about 14 m. It has no Harmika or Chhatra and has been cut flat on top. The excavation found a relic chamber holding four caskets for ashes made of steatite, on which the names of ten .....

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At a distance of 1.5 km from Sanchi Railway Station, Sanchi Stupa 3 or Stupa No.3 is a Buddhist stupa located in Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh. It is one of the Buddhist monuments in the historic site of Sanchi and among the top Sanchi tourist places.

Stupa 3 is located just 100 m north of the Great Stupa, and in the 2nd century BC during the time of the Shunga rule complete with the staircase and the balustrade. As the diameter of its pedestal is about 15m, its scale is nearly the same as Stupa 2 as a whole. It is similar in design to the Great Stupa, though smaller, with a single, rather fine gateway. However, the outer wall has been lost and there remains no more than the South Torana among those of the four cardinal points at present.

The Stupa 3 has a crown on the hemispherical dome which has special religious importance. It has an umbrella made of polished stone. The single torana gateway oriented to the south is not Shunga and was built later under the Satavahanas, probably .....

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At a distance of 1.5 km from Sanchi Railway Station, Gupta Period Temple is an ancient temple located within the main complex of the Sanchi Stupas in Madhya Pradesh. Situated near the Great Stupa, this temple is a must-visit attraction in Sanchi.

Constructed in the 5th century AD, Gupta Temple, also known as Temple No.17 is situated on the south-east side of the Mahastupa or the Great Stupa of Sanchi. The temple stands as proof of the architectural excellence of the Gupta period. Most scholars agree that the temple was used for Buddhist worship. While temple-building in Buddhism didn't gain popularity, many of the elements of this temple would go on to be incorporated into Hindu temple architecture.

Temple No. 17 is an early temple of the Gupta period and is an excellent example of simplicity and grandeur. This elegant temple has a simple flat-roofed sanctum with a porch that has four pillars in the front. The ceiling of the sanctum is slightly higher than the roof of the .....

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At a distance of 1.5 km from Sanchi Railway Station, Ashoka Pillar is one of the pillars built by Ashoka. Situated close to the Southern gateway of the Great Stupa in Sanchi, it is one of the must-visit places as part of Sanchi Packages.

Known for its aesthetic proportions and exquisite structural balance, Ashoka Pillar is one of the most popular attractions in Sanchi. The Pillar erected in the 3rd century BC consists of a shaft and a crown of four lions that stand back to back. It is rather unfortunate but the total Ashoka Pillar does not stand here now. The shaft of the pillar can only be seen at the gateway and the crown has been kept in the Sanchi Museum. The figure of these lions was later adopted as the National Emblem of India.

The structure of the pillar is influenced by the Greco Buddhist style. It also resembles the Sarnath pillar a The sandstone out of which the pillar is carved came from the quarries of Chunar. The pillar is 42 feet tall and consisted of a round .....

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At a distance of 1.5 km from Sanchi Railway Station, Great Bowl & Buddhist Monasteries are among the ancient ruins within the historical site of Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh. Situated on the way to Stupa No.2, it is one of the must include places in Sanchi Tour Packages.

Amongst the various historical monuments which stand tall in Sanchi after centuries of being constructed, the Great Bowl or the Grand Gumbha is a monolithic stone bowl carved from a single huge rock that collected offerings monks received in the Ashokan Era. The Sanchi group of monuments used to house monasteries for a great number of Buddhist monks. At day-end, all the food offerings collected by them used to be poured into this huge stone basin and each was given a portion from it. This was their passage to detachment and community living.

As for Buddhist monasteries, there were seven, one of which is Monastery 51, located in a place situated partway down the hill towards Stupa 2. It has a typical plan with an .....

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At a distance of 1 km from Sanchi Railway Station, Archaeological Museum is a museum located within the historic site of Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh. Situated near the famous Sanchi Stupa, it is one of the must-visit places as part of the Sanchi Tour.

Also known as Sanchi Museum, the Archaeological Museum was established on the hilltop in 1919 by Sir John Marshall. Later, the Archaeological Survey of India acquired a college building at the foothill of Sanchi Stupa and got the exhibits shifted to the new building in the year 1966. The museum exhibits a large number of astonishing leftovers and artworks discovered during excavations at Sanchi itself while the rest are from its neighboring villages including Vidisha, Gulgaon, Gyaraspur, and Murelkhurd. The amazing carvings and tools made of metal showcased in the museum are around 2000 years old.

With a single floored white building, the museum comprises the main hall and four galleries besides exhibits in the verandah and a few .....

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At a distance of 7 km from Vidisha, and 10 km from Sanchi Railway Station, Udayagiri Caves or Udaigiri Caves are a group of rock-cut caves located at Udaigiri village in Madhya Pradesh. It is one of the most important archaeological sites in India, and among the must include places in Sanchi Tour Packages.

Udayagiri, literally means the 'sunrise mountain', was a Buddhist and Hindu site by the 2nd century BCE. The place is also referred to as Visnupadagiri which means the hill at 'the feet of Vishnu'. The Udayagiri Caves are a group of 20 rock-cut caves near Vidisha from the early years of the 5th century CE. They contain some of the oldest surviving Hindu temples and iconography in India. Besides, these caves have rock-cut water tanks, and some have shrines and monuments on top.

Out of 20 caves, one is dedicated to Jainism, while others to Hinduism including Vaishnavism, Shaktism, and Shaivism. The Jain Cave is notable for one of the oldest known Jaina inscriptions from 425 .....

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At a distance of 9 km from Sanchi Railway Station, Bijamandal is an ancient temple located in Vidisha near Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh. Popularly known as Vijayamandira Temple, it is one of the must-visit places near Sanchi.

Bijamandal or Bija Mandal was an enormous temple built in the 11th century during the reign of Parmara King Naravarman. The incomplete architectural design and the foundation stones suggest that the construction remained unfinished. This soaring Brahmanical temple was dedicated to the Goddess Charchika also known as Vijaya. The temple was demolished on the orders of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1682 and constructed a mosque called Alamgiri Masjid in the same site.

As per the legend, the great temple was 35 m high and 39 m wide. What remains on the site would just have been the base for a much larger structure full of columns and ornately-carved statues. Fascinating carvings from the temple are arranged on the grounds, awaiting classification and display .....

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At a distance of 45 km from Sanchi, 193 km from Indore, 194 km from Pachmarhi, 195 km from Ujjain, 320 km from Jhansi, 324 km from Jabalpur, 354 km from Nagpur, 370 km from Khajuraho, 407 km from Gwalior, 506 km from Udaipur, 582 km from Ahmedabad, 599 km from Jaipur, and 607 km from Lucknow, Bhopal is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of Bhopal district. It is one of the top places to visit in Madhya Pradesh, and among the must include places in India tour packages.

The city of Bhopal is often called the 'City of Lakes' as it features a pair of artificial lakes - Upper Lake and Lower Lake, among the must include places in Bhopal tour packages. One of the greenest cities in India, the city can be divided into two parts, the old city towards the north comprising of rustic mosques, .....

Distance (From Sanchi): 45 Kms
Trip Duration (From Sanchi - Including Travel): Full Day
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At a distance of 11 km from Sanchi, Sonari is an archaeological site of an ancient monastic complex of Buddhist stupas in Madhya Pradesh. Positioned on a hill, it is one of the must include places in the Buddhist Circuit of Central India, and among the top places to visit near Sanchi.

Like Sanchi, Sonari is again a complex of Buddhist stupas comprising two large and five smaller stupas. The stupas were excavated around 1850 by Alexander Cunningham, who discovered two boxes containing relics. One of the reliquaries, which is very ornate, is visible nowadays at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

The date of construction of Stupa 1 and Stupa 2 must therefore be equivalent to those of Sanchi Stupa No.2, i.e. 125-100 BCE. About 15 meters in diameter, Stupa No.1 is a solid hemisphere of dry masonry and is the largest stupa in the complex. It is made over a cylindrical plinth of about four feet high with fragments indicating traces of railings. The stupa contained a miniature .....

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At a distance of 14 km from Sanchi, Satdahara is an archaeological site of an ancient monastic complex of Buddhist stupas in Madhya Pradesh. Overlooking Halali River, it is one of the must include places in the Buddhist Circuit of Central India, and among the top places to visit near Sanchi.

As the Buddhist community flourished around Sanchi, new settlements of worshippers appeared in the region. Although these settlements had a physical and spiritual link to Sanchi, they also built their stupas and monasteries. There are four groups of stupas surrounding Sanchi within a radius of 20 km - Bhojpur and Andher to the southeast, Sonari to the southwest, and Satdhara in the west. Further south, about 100 km away, is Saru Maru.

There are 8 stupas spread across 28 acres of land on the banks of Halali River. The main stupa is almost as large as the Great Stupa of Sanchi and would have also been built during Emperor Ashoka's reign. The main Stupa of the site is similar to that of Sanchi .....

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At a distance of 19 km from Sanchi, Murel Khurd is an archaeological site of an ancient monastic complex of Buddhist stupas in Madhya Pradesh. Also known as Bhojpur Stupas, it is one of the must include places in Buddhist Circuit in Madhya Pradesh, and among the top places to visit near Sanchi.

As the Buddhist community flourished around Sanchi, new settlements of worshippers appeared in the region. Although these settlements had a physical and spiritual link to Sanchi, they also built their own stupas and monasteries. There are four groups of stupas surrounding Sanchi within a radius of 20 km - Bhojpur / Murel Khurd and Andher to the southeast, Sonari to the southwest, and Satdhara in the west. Further south, about 100 km away, is Saru Maru.

The Bhojpur Stupas, also called Murelkhurd Stupas are a group of about 37 stupas located at Bhojpur (Pipalia) near Murelkhurd on the top of a hill. All these stupas were discovered in the 19th century by Major Cunningham. The biggest .....

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At a distance of 13 km from Murel Khurd, and 30 km from Sanchi, Andher is an archaeological site of an ancient monastic complex of Buddhist stupas in Madhya Pradesh. It is one of the must include places in Buddhist Circuit in Madhya Pradesh, and among the top places to visit near Sanchi.

As the Buddhist community flourished around Sanchi, new settlements of worshippers appeared in the region. Although these settlements had a physical and spiritual link to Sanchi, they also built their own stupas and monasteries. There are four groups of stupas surrounding Sanchi within a radius of 20 km - Bhojpur / Murel Khurd and Andher to the southeast, Sonari to the southwest, and Satdhara in the west. Further south, about 100 km away, is Saru Maru.

The Andher Stupas are a group of three stupas perched atop a hill near Karhod village in Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh, India. The site overlooks the magnificent Murel Khurd Stupas or Bhojpur Stupas. The Stupa No. 1 is dated to about 150 .....

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At a distance of 9 km from Obaidullaganj, and 45 km from Bhopal, Bhimbetka is an archaeological site located in the Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is one of the popular places of heritage in India, and among the must include places in Madhya Pradesh tour packages.

The archaeological site of Bhimbetka is situated inside the Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary, embedded in sandstone rocks, in the foothills of the Vindhya Range. It was discovered in the year 1957, but only in the 1970s that the scale and true significance of the Bhimbetka was discovered and reported. It came under the management of the Archaeological Survey of India in 1990 and was declared a World Heritage Site in 2003. The name 'Bhimbetka' is derived from the historic tale of Mahabharata. Legend has it that Bhima, one of the Pandavas sat in this place during their exile, and thus the place got its name 'Bhimbetka', .....

Distance (From Sanchi): 105 Kms
Trip Duration (From Sanchi - Including Travel): Full Day
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