Sanchi & Vidisha

The main stupa (background) with a very Greek looking temple in the foreground.

The main stupa is adorned by 4 gates facing the cardinal points.

The North gate is the most complete and is really quite amazing.

Sandstone carvings tell the story of Buddha. The Buddha is represented on the Bodhi tree, seen being offered honey by monkeys.

We tried for sometime to figure out how these creepy carvings relate to the story of the Buddha. (This wasn't helped by the crappy leaflet that Jason bought, and was determined to get his moneys worth.)

Yakshi hangs from one of the architraves looking rather saucy.

Riding Rams.

One of India's national symbols. The four lions appear on the South Gate.

The West gate is held up 4 pot-bellied dwarfs on each of the two pillars.

Lotus blossoms grace the underneath of the architraves.

Random broken carvings are strewn all over the site.

This enormous bowl for the giving of Alms to the monks, is carved from a single piece of stone.

Langurs lounge around the site grooming each other...before locals start throwing stones at them.

After hearing our train to Mumbai was delayed by more than 4 hours, we decided to leave the less than charismatic town of Vidisha for Udaigiri Caves. A short rickshaw ride and we were exploring.

The photo is a very tough looking incarnation of Vishnu in his Boar form.

Off to Mumbai for some civilisation.