Feeling remorse for the slaughter and horrors he inflicted on the people of Kalinga, Asoka, the son of Bindusara, became a Buddhist and built a stupa on the hill at Sanchi, nine kilometres from Vidasha—a special place in his heart. In this city, as a youth, he learnt about the Buddhist faith through his love for a Buddhist maiden and fathered two children who would later play a major role in the propagation of the Buddhist faith. The original structure built by Asoka was damaged and the present stupa at Sanchi was rebuilt in the second century BCE.

When the Buddha was cremated, his ashes, also known as his holy relics, were divided into eight parts by his disciples and the parts were buried in different locations. The burial mould of his relics became a symbolic object of veneration for the Buddhists since it was not the custom in the early days of the religion to make physical representations of Buddha. Asoka opened up seven of the original burial moulds and distributed the relics to several thousand sites over which stupas were built.

The grandest of the stupas which still exists is the Great Stupa at Sanchi which rises to 90 metres and consists of a hemispheric dome of about 40 metres diameter sitting on a square base, topped by a spire with a triple parasol. The structure is full of symbolism, with the square base representing the earth, the hemispheric dome representing water, and the spire above the dome representing fire and its energy ascending towards the heaven. The triple parasol symbolizes the Buddha, his teachings and the sangha.

The stupa was neglected and fell into disrepair for several centuries during the period of Muslim rule over India until it was rediscovered by the British in the nineteenth century. Now restored and sitting majestically on the hill, the Great Stupa of Sanchi radiates serenity over its surroundings as the many pilgrims and tourists enter through one of its four elaborately carved gateways to look upon the oldest known stupa in the world. Asoka had a single brother, Vitasoka, and many half brothers, the children of his fifteen stepmothers. His mother was not the palace favourite and because of his rough features, neither was he.