A Gate to the Stupa of Sanchi (Sanchi no mon)

The Great Stupa at Sanchi — built under the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka in the third century BCE and among the oldest stone structures in India — is approached through elaborately carved toranas, or ceremonial gateways, and it is one of these gates that Yoshida depicted in this 1932 oban-format print. The stone carvings covering the torana pillars and lintels narrate scenes from the Buddha's life and previous incarnations with an intricacy that Yoshida's woodblock technique was singularly equipped to capture. His visit to Sanchi during his India travels marked one of the high points of his engagement with Buddhist architectural heritage outside Japan, and the resulting print is among the most architecturally specific of his Indian series.