Pillars of Ashoka

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“Ashoka Pillar” redirects here. For the pillar in Delhi also known as Ashoka pillar, see Iron pillar of Delhi.

Not to be confused with Lion Capital of Ashoka.

The
pillars of Ashoka are a series of monolithic columns dispersed
throughout the Indian subcontinent, erected or at least inscribed with
edicts by the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka during his reign from c. 268 to
232 BCE.[2] Ashoka used the expression Dhaṃma thaṃbhā (Dharma stambha),
i.e. “pillars of the Dharma” to describe his own pillars.[3][4] These
pillars constitute important monuments of the architecture of India,
most of them exhibiting the characteristic Mauryan polish. Of the
pillars erected by Ashoka, twenty still survive including those with
inscriptions of his edicts. Only a few with animal capitals survive of
which seven complete specimens are known.[5] Two pillars were relocated
by Firuz Shah Tughlaq to Delhi.[6] Several pillars were relocated later
by Mughal Empire rulers, the animal capitals being removed.[7] Averaging
between 12 and 15 m (40 and 50 ft) in height, and weighing up to 50
tons each, the pillars were dragged, sometimes hundreds of miles, to
where they were erected.[8]

Pillars of Ashoka

One of the Pillars of Ashoka, in Vaishali

Material

Polished sandstone

Period/culture

3rd century BCE

Known locations of the Pillars of Ashoka[1]

The
pillars of Ashoka are among the earliest known stone sculptural remains
from India. Only another pillar fragment, the Pataliputra capital, is
possibly from a slightly earlier date. It is thought that before the 3rd
century BCE, wood rather than stone was used as the main material for
Indian architectural constructions, and that stone may have been adopted
following interaction with the Persians and the Greeks.[9] A graphic
representation of the Lion Capital of Ashoka from the column there was
adopted as the official State Emblem of India in 1950.[10]

All
the pillars of Ashoka were built at Buddhist monasteries, many
important sites from the life of the Buddha and places of pilgrimage.
Some of the columns carry inscriptions addressed to the monks and
nuns.[11] Some were erected to commemorate visits by Ashoka. Major
pillars are present in the Indian States of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya
Pradesh and some parts of Haryana.

Ashoka and Buddhism

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Lion Capital of Ashoka from Sarnath, with Wheel of the Moral Law (reconstitution). 3rd century BCE.[12][13][14]

Ashoka
ascended to the throne in 269 BC inheriting the Mauryan empire founded
by his grandfather Chandragupta Maurya. Ashoka was reputedly a tyrant at
the outset of his reign. Eight years after his accession he campaigned
in Kalinga where in his own words, “a hundred and fifty thousand people
were deported, a hundred thousand were killed and as many as that
perished…” As he explains in his edicts, after this event Ashoka
converted to Buddhism in remorse for the loss of life. Buddhism became a
state religion and with Ashoka’s support it spread rapidly. The
inscriptions on the pillars set out edicts about morality based on
Buddhist tenets.[15][16] They were added in 3rd century BCE.

Construction

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Possible sources of inspiration

Sphinx of the Naxians, Delphi, c. 6th BCE.[17]

Highly polished Achaemenid load-bearing column with lotus capital and ashvins, Persepolis, c. 5th-4th BCE.

See also: Mauryan polish

The
traditional idea that all were originally quarried at Chunar, just
south of Varanasi and taken to their sites, before or after carving,
“can no longer be confidently asserted”,[18] and instead it seems that
the columns were carved in two types of stone. Some were of the spotted
red and white sandstone from the region of Mathura, the others of
buff-colored fine grained hard sandstone usually with small black spots
quarried in the Chunar near Varanasi. The uniformity of style in the
pillar capitals suggests that they were all sculpted by craftsmen from
the same region. It would therefore seem that stone was transported from
Mathura and Chunar to the various sites where the pillars have been
found, and there was cut and carved by craftsmen.[19]

The
pillars have four component parts in two pieces: the three sections of
the capitals are made in a single piece, often of a different stone to
that of the monolithic shaft to which they are attached by a large metal
dowel. The shafts are always plain and smooth, circular in
cross-section, slightly tapering upwards and always chiselled out of a
single piece of stone. There is no distinct base at the bottom of the
shaft. The lower parts of the capitals have the shape and appearance of a
gently arched bell formed of lotus petals. The abaci are of two types:
square and plain and circular and decorated and these are of different
proportions. The crowning animals are masterpieces of Mauryan art, shown
either seated or standing, always in the round and chiselled as a
single piece with the abaci.[20][21] Presumably all or most of the other
columns that now lack them once had capitals and animals. They are also
used to commemorate the events of the Buddha’s life.

Left
image: Vaishali lion of Ashoka. Right image: Assyrian relief of a lion
at Nineveh (circa 640 BCE). Many stylistic elements (design of the
whiskers, the eyes, the fur etc…) point to similarities.[22]

Currently
seven animal sculptures from Ashoka pillars survive.[5][23] These form
“the first important group of Indian stone sculpture”, though it is
thought they derive from an existing tradition of wooden columns topped
by animal sculptures in copper, none of which have survived. It is also
possible that some of the stone pillars predate Ashoka’s reign.[24]

Floral designs

Top image: Abacus of the Allahabad pillar, with lotuses alternating with “flame palmettes” over a bead and reel pattern.

Bottom image: A quite similar frieze from Delphi, 525 BCE

Origin

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Western origin

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There
has been much discussion of the extent of influence from Achaemenid
Persia,[25] where the column capitals supporting the roofs at Persepolis
have similarities, and the “rather cold, hieratic style” of the Sarnath
Lion Capital of Ashoka especially shows “obvious Achaemenid and
Sargonid influence”.[26] India and the Achaemenid Empire had been in
close contact since the Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley, from
circa 500 BCE to 330 BCE.

Hellenistic
influence has also been suggested.[27] In particular the abaci of some
of the pillars (especially the Rampurva bull, the Sankissa elephant and
the Allahabad pillar capital) use bands of motifs, like the bead and
reel pattern, the ovolo, the flame palmettes, lotuses, which likely
originated from Greek and Near-Eastern arts.[22] Such examples can also
be seen in the remains of the Mauryan capital city of Pataliputra.

It
has also been suggested that 6th century Greek columns such as the
Sphinx of Naxos, a 12.5m Ionic column crowned by a sitted animal in the
religious center of Delphi, may have been an inspiration for the pillars
of Ashoka.[17] Many similar columns crowned by sphinxes were discovered
in ancient Greece, as in Sparta, Athens or Spata, and some were used as
funerary steles.[17] The Greek sphinx, a lion with the face of a human
female, was considered as having ferocious strength, and was thought of
as a guardian, often flanking the entrances to temples or royal
tombs.[28]

Pillar as Dhvaja, military standard

Heliodorus pillar in Vidisha, India, 2nd Century BCE

Shunga horseman carrying portable garuda standard, Bharhut 2nd Century BCE

Indian origin

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Some
scholars such as John Irwin emphasized a reassessment from popular
belief of Persian or Greek origin of Ashokan pillars. He makes the
argument that Ashokan pillars represent Dhvaja or standard which Indian
soldiers carried with them during battle and it was believed that the
destruction of the enemy’s dhvaja brought misfortune to their opponents.
A relief of Bharhut stupa railing portrays a queenly personage on
horseback carrying a Garudadhvaja.[29] Heliodorus pillar has been called
Garudadhvaja, literally Garuda-standard, the pillar dated to 2nd
century BC is perhaps the earliest recorded stone pillar which has been
declared a dhvaja.[30]

Ashokan
edicts themselves state that his words should be carved on any stone
slab or pillars available indicating that the tradition of carving stone
pillars was present before the period of Ashoka.

Jhon
Irwin also highlights the fact that carvings on pillars such as
Allahabad pillar was done when it had already been erected indicating
its pre Ashokan origins.[31]

Ashoka
called his own pillars Silā Thabhe (𑀲𑀺𑀮𑀸𑀣𑀪𑁂, Stone Stambha, i.e.
stone pillars). Lumbini inscription, Brahmi script.

Stylistic argument

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Though
influence from the west is generally accepted, especially the Persian
columns of Achaemenid Persia, there are a number of differences between
these and the pillars. Persian columns are built in segments whereas
Ashokan pillars are monoliths, like some much later Roman columns. Most
of the Persian pillars have a fluted shaft while the Mauryan pillars are
smooth, and Persian pillars serve as supporting structures whereas
Ashokan pillars are individual free-standing monuments. There are also
other differences in the decoration.[32] Indian historian Upinder Singh
comments on some of the differences and similarities, writing that “If
the Ashokan pillars cannot in their entirety be attributed to Persian
influence, they must have had an undocumented prehistory within the
subcontinent, perhaps a tradition of wooden carving. But the transition
from stone to wood was made in one magnificent leap, no doubt spurred by
the imperial tastes and ambitions of the Maurya emperors.”[33]

Whatever
the cultural and artistic borrowings from the west, the pillars of
Ashoka, together with much of Mauryan art and architectural prowesses
such as the city of Pataliputra or the Barabar Caves, remain outstanding
in their achievements, and often compare favourably with the rest of
the world at that time. Commenting on Mauryan sculpture, John Marshall
once wrote about the “extraordinary precision and accuracy which
characterizes all Mauryan works, and which has never, we venture to say,
been surpassed even by the finest workmanship on Athenian
buildings”.[34][35]

Complete list of the pillars

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Five
of the pillars of Ashoka, two at Rampurva, one each at Vaishali,
Lauriya Araraj and Lauria Nandangarh possibly marked the course of the
ancient Royal highway from Pataliputra to the Nepal. Several pillars
were relocated by later Mughal Empire rulers, the animal capitals being
removed.[7]

The
two Chinese medieval pilgrim accounts record sightings of several
columns that have now vanished: Faxian records six and Xuanzang fifteen,
of which only five at most can be identified with surviving
pillars.[36] All surviving pillars, listed with any crowning animal
sculptures and the edicts inscribed, are as follows:[20][37]

Complete standing pillars, or pillars with Ashokan inscriptions

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Geographical spread of known pillar capitals.

Delhi-Topra
pillar, in the fortress of Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi (Pillar Edicts I,
II, III, IV, V, VI, VII; moved in 1356 CE from Topra Kalan in
Yamunanagar district of Haryana to Delhi by Firuz Shah Tughluq.[1]

Delhi-Meerut,
Delhi ridge, Delhi (Pillar Edicts I, II, III, IV, V, VI; moved from
Meerut to Delhi by Firuz Shah Tughluq in 1356.[1]

Nigali
Sagar (or Nigliva, Nigalihawa), near Lumbini, Nepal. Pillar missing
capital, one Ashoka edict. Erected in the 20th regnal year of Ashoka (c.
249 BCE).[1]

Rupandehi,
near Lumbini, Nepal. Also erected in the 20th regnal year of Ashoka (c.
249 BCE), to commemorate Ashoka’s pilgrimage to Lumbini. Capital
missing, but was apparently a horse.[1]

Allahabad
pillar, Uttar Pradesh (originally located at Kausambi and probable
moved to Allahabad by Jahangir; Pillar Edicts I-VI, Queen’s Edict,
Schism Edict).[1]

Rampurva,
Champaran, Bihar. Two columns: a lion with Pillar Edicts I, II, III,
IV, V, VI; a bull without inscriptions. The abacus of the bull capital
features honeysuckle and palmette designs derived from Greek designs.[1]

Sanchi, near Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, four lions, Schism Edict.[1]

Sarnath,
near Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, four lions, Pillar Inscription, Schism
Edict.[1] This is the famous “Lion Capital of Ashoka” used in the
national emblem of India.

Lauriya-Nandangarth, Champaran, Bihar, single lion, Pillar Edicts I, II, III, IV, V, VI.[1]

Lauriya Araraj, Champaran, Bihar (Pillar Edicts I, II, III, IV, V, VI).[1]

Vaishali, Bihar, single lion, with no inscription.[1]

The
Amaravati pillar fragment is rather problematic. It only consists in 6
lines in Brahmi which are hardly decipherable. Only the word vijaya
(victory) can be made out, arguably a word also used by Ashoka.[38]
Sircar, who provides a detailed study, considers it as probably
belonging to an Ashokan pillar.[39]

Complete standing pillars, or pillars with Ashokan inscriptions

Vaishali

Vaishali

Lauriya-Nandangarh

Lauriya-Nandangarh

Lauriya-Araraj

Lauriya-Araraj

Delhi-Meerut (originally from Meerut, broken in pieces during transportation).

Delhi-Meerut (originally from Meerut, broken in pieces during transportation).

Delhi-Topra (originally from Topra Kalan).

Delhi-Topra (originally from Topra Kalan).

Allahabad (originally from Kosambi)

Allahabad (originally from Kosambi)

Lumbini (broken in half). Capped for protection in the 20th century.

Lumbini (broken in half). Capped for protection in the 20th century.

Sarnath

Sarnath

Sanchi

Sanchi

Rampurva

Rampurva

Nigali Sagar

Nigali Sagar

Fragment of pillar with inscription, Amaravati.[40]

Fragment of pillar with inscription, Amaravati.[40]

Pillars without Ashokan inscriptions

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There
are also several known fragments of Ashokan pillars, without recovered
Ashokan inscriptions, such as the Ashoka pillar in Bodh Gaya, Kausambi,
Gotihawa, Prahladpur (now in the Government Sanskrit College,
Varanasi[41]), Fatehabad, Bhopal, Sadagarli, Udaigiri-Vidisha,
Kushinagar, Arrah (Masarh) Basti, Bhikana Pahari, Bulandi Bagh
(Pataliputra), Sandalpu and a few others, as well as a broken pillar in
Bhairon (”Lat Bhairo” in Benares)[42] which was destroyed to a stump
during riots in 1908.[43] The Chinese monks Fa-Hsien and Hsuantsang also
reported pillars in Kushinagar, the Jetavana monastery in Sravasti,
Rajagriha and Mahasala, which have not been recovered to this day.[43]

Fragments of Pillars of Ashoka, without Ashokan inscriptions

Kausambi

Kausambi

Gotihawa, possible base of the Nigali Sagar pillar

Gotihawa, possible base of the Nigali Sagar pillar

Bodh Gaya (originally near Sujata Stupa, brought from Gaya in 1956).[44]

Bodh Gaya (originally near Sujata Stupa, brought from Gaya in 1956).[44]

Portion of an Ashokan pillar, found in Pataliputra.

Portion of an Ashokan pillar, found in Pataliputra.

Bhawanipur Rupandehi.

Bhawanipur Rupandehi.

The capitals (Top Piece)

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Abacus of the Allahabad pillar of Ashoka, the only remaining portion of the capital of the Allahabad pillar.

There
are altogether seven remaining complete capitals, five with lions, one
with an elephant and one with a zebu bull. One of them, the four lions
of Sarnath, has become the State Emblem of India. The animal capitals
are composed of a lotiform base, with an abacus decorated with floral,
symbolic or animal designs, topped by the realistic depiction of an
animal, thought to each represent a traditional directions in India.

The horse motif on the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka, is often described as an example of Hellenistic realism.[45]

Various
foreign influences have been described in the design of these
capitals.[46] The animal on top of a lotiform capital reminds of
Achaemenid column shapes. The abacus also often seems to display some
influence of Greek art: in the case of the Rampurva bull or the Sankassa
elephant, it is composed of honeysuckles alternated with stylized
palmettes and small rosettes.[47] A similar kind of design can be seen
in the frieze of the lost capital of the Allahabad pillar. These designs
likely originated in Greek and Near-Eastern arts.[48] They would
probably have come from the neighboring Seleucid Empire, and
specifically from a Hellenistic city such as Ai-Khanoum, located at the
doorstep of India.[24] Most of these designs and motifs can also be seen
in the Pataliputra capital.

The
Diamond throne of Bodh Gaya is another example of Ashokan architecture
circa 260 BCE, and displays a band of carvings with palmettes and geese,
similar to those found on several of the Pillars of Ashoka.[49]

Chronological order

Based
on stylistic and technical analysis, it is possible to establish a
tentative chronological orders for the pillars. The earliest one seems
to be the Vaishali pillar, with its stout and short column, the rigid
lion and the undecorated square abacus. Next would follow the Sankissa
elephant and the Rampurva bull, also not yet benefiting from Mauryan
polish, and using a Hellenistic abacus of lotus and palmettes for
decoration. The abacus would then adopt the Hamsa goose as an animal
decorative symbol, in Lauria Nandangarh and the Rampurva lion. Sanchi
and Sarnath would mark the culmination with four animals back-to-back
instead of just one, and a new and sophisticated animal and symbolic
abacus (the elephant, the bull, the lion, the horse alternating with the
Dharma wheel) for the Sarnath lion.[50]

Other
chronological orders have also been proposed, for example based on the
style of the Ashokan inscriptions on the pillars, since the
stylistically most sophisticated pillars actually have the engravings of
the Edicts of Ashoka of the worst quality (namely, very poorly engraved
Schism Edicts on the Sanchi and Sarnath pillars, their only
inscriptions). This approach offers an almost reverse chronological
order to the preceding one.[51] According to Irwin, the Sankissa
elephant and Rampurva bull pillars with their Hellenistic abacus are
pre-Ashokan. Ashoka would then have commissioned the Sarnath pillar with
its famous Lion Capital of Ashoka to be built under the tutelage of
craftsmen from the former Achaemenid Empire, trained in
Perso-Hellenistic statuary, whereas the Brahmi engraving on the very
same pillar (and on pillars of the same period such as Sanchi and
Kosambi-Allahabad) was made by inexperienced Indian engravers at a time
when stone engraving was still new in India.[51] After Ashoka sent back
the foreign artists, style degraded over a short period of time, down to
the time when the Major Pillar Edicts were engraved at the end of
Ashoka’s reign, which now displayed very good inscriptional
craftsmanship but a much more solemn and less elegant style for the
associated lion capitals, as for the Lauria Nandangarh lion and the
Rampurva lion.[51]

Known capitals of the pillars of Ashoka

Ordered chronologically based on stylistic and technical analysis.[50]

Vaishali lion

Vaishali lion

Sankissa elephant.

Sankissa elephant.

Rampurva zebu bull original (now in Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi).

Rampurva zebu bull original (now in Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi).

Lauria Nandangarh lion.

Lauria Nandangarh lion.

Rampurva lion.

Rampurva lion.

Four lions, once possibly crowned by a wheel, from Sanchi.

Four lions, once possibly crowned by a wheel, from Sanchi.

The “Lion Capital of Ashoka”, from Sarnath.

The “Lion Capital of Ashoka”, from Sarnath.

Of
the Allahabad pillar, only the abacus remains, the bottom bulb and the
crowning animal having been lost. The remains are now located in the
Allahabad Museum.

The elephant-crowned pillar of Ashoka at the Mahabodhi Temple, Gaya. Bharhut relief, 100 BCE.

A few more possibly Ashokan capitals were also found without their pillars:

Kesariya
(capital). Only the capital was found in the Kesaria stupa. It was
discovered by Markham Kittoe in 1862, and said to be similar to the lion
of the Lauriya Nandangarh pillar, except for the hind legs of the lion,
which did not protrude beyond the abacus.[1] This capital is now lost.

Udaigiri-Vidisha
(capital only at the Udayagiri Caves, visible here).[1] Attribution to
Ashoka however is disputed (ranging from the 2nd century BCE Sunga
period,[52] to the Gupta period.[53]).

It
is also known from various ancient sculptures (reliefs from Bharhut,
100 BCE), and later narrative account by Chinese pilgrims (5-6th century
CE), that there was a pillar of Ashoka at the Mahabodhi Temple founded
by Ashoka, that it was crowned by an elephant.[54]

The
same Chinese pilgrims have reported that the capital of the Lumbini
pillar was a horse (now lost), which, by their time had already fallen
to the ground.[54]

Inscriptions

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Main article: Edicts of Ashoka

Ashoka
also called his pillars “Dhaṃma thaṃbhā” (𑀥𑀁𑀫𑀣𑀁𑀪𑀸, Dharma
stambha), i.e. “pillars of the Dharma”. 7th Major Pillar Edict. Brahmi
script.[3]

The
inscriptions on the columns include a fairly standard text. The
inscriptions on the columns join other, more numerous, Ashokan
inscriptions on natural rock faces to form the body of texts known as
the Edicts of Ashoka. These inscriptions were dispersed throughout the
areas of modern-day Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Afghanistan and Pakistan
and represent the first tangible evidence of Buddhism. The edicts
describe in detail Ashoka’s policy of Dhamma, an earnest attempt to
solve some of problems that a complex society faced.[55] In these
inscriptions, Ashoka refers to himself as “Beloved servant of the Gods”
(Devanampiyadasi). The inscriptions revolve around a few recurring
themes: Ashoka’s conversion to Buddhism, the description of his efforts
to spread Buddhism, his moral and religious precepts, and his social and
animal welfare program. The edicts were based on Ashoka’s ideas on
administration and behaviour of people towards one another and religion.

Alexander
Cunningham, one of the first to study the inscriptions on the pillars,
remarks that they are written in eastern, middle and western Prakrits
which he calls “the Punjabi or north-western dialect, the Ujjeni or
middle dialect, and the Magadhi or eastern dialect.”[56] They are
written in the Brahmi script.

Minor Pillar Edicts

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Main article: Minor Pillar Edicts

These
contain inscriptions recording their dedication, as well as the Schism
Edicts and the Queen’s Edict. They were inscribed around the 13th year
of Ashoka’s reign.

Sanchi pillar (Schism Edict)

Sarnath pillar (Schism Edict)

Allahabad pillar (Schism Edict, Queen Edict, and also Major Pillar Edicts)

Lumbini
(Rummindei), Nepal (the upper part broke off when struck by lightning;
the original horse capital mentioned by Xuanzang is missing) was erected
by Ashoka where Buddha was born.

Nigali Sagar (or Nigliva), near Lumbini, Rupandehi district, Nepal (originally near the Buddha Konakarnana stupa)

Kosambi-Allahabad Schism Edict.

Kosambi-Allahabad Schism Edict.

Sanchi Schism Edict.

Sanchi Schism Edict.

Sarnath Schism Edit.

Sarnath Schism Edit.

Rummindei, in Lumbini.

Rummindei, in Lumbini.

Nigali Sagar.

Nigali Sagar.

Major Pillar Edicts

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Fragment of the 6th Major Pillar Edict, from the Delhi-Meerut Pillar of Ashoka, British Museum.[57]

Main article: Major Pillar Edicts

Asoka’s
6 Major Pillar Edicts have been found at Kausambhi (Allahabad), Topra
(now Delhi), Meerut (now Delhi), Lauriya-Araraj, Lauriya-Nandangarh,
Rampurva (Champaran), and a 7th one on the Delhi-Topra pillar.

These pillar edicts include:[58]

I Asoka’s principle of protection to people

II Defines dhamma as minimum of sins, many virtues, compassion, liberality, truthfulness and purity

III Abolishes sins of harshness, cruelty, anger, pride etc.

IV Deals with duties of government officials

V
List of animals and birds which should not be killed on some days and
another list of animals which cannot be killed on any occasion.
Describes release of 25 prisoners by Asoka.

VI Works done by Asoka for Dhamma Policy. He says that all sects desire both self-control and purity of mind.

VII Testimental edict.

Major Pillar Edicts I, II, III (Delhi-Topra)

Major Pillar Edicts I, II, III (Delhi-Topra)

Major Pillar Edicts IV (Delhi-Topra)

Major Pillar Edicts IV (Delhi-Topra)

Major Pillar Edicts V-VII (Delhi-Topra)

Major Pillar Edicts V-VII (Delhi-Topra)

Major Pillar Edicts VII, second part (Delhi-Topra)

Major Pillar Edicts VII, second part (Delhi-Topra)

Description of the pillars

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Front view of the single lion capital in Vaishali.

Pillars retaining their animals

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Main article: Lion Capital of Ashoka

The
most celebrated capital (the four-lion one at Sarnath (Uttar Pradesh))
erected by Emperor Ashoka circa 250 BC. also called the “Ashoka Column” .
Four lions are seated back to back. At present the Column remains in
the same place whereas the Lion Capital is at the Sarnath Museum. This
Lion Capital of Ashoka from Sarnath has been adopted as the National
Emblem of India and the wheel “Ashoka Chakra” from its base was placed
onto the centre of the flag of India.

The
lions probably originally supported a Dharma Chakra wheel with 24
spokes, such as is preserved in the 13th century replica erected at Wat
Umong near Chiang Mai, Thailand by Thai king Mangrai.[59]

Depiction of the four lions capital surmounted by a Wheel of Law at Sanchi, Satavahana period, South gateway of stupa 3.

The
pillar at Sanchi also has a similar but damaged four-lion capital.
There are two pillars at Rampurva, one with a bull and the other with a
lion as crowning animals. Sankissa has only a damaged elephant capital,
which is mainly unpolished, though the abacus is at least partly so. No
pillar shaft has been found, and perhaps this was never erected at the
site.[60]

The
Vaishali pillar has a single lion capital.[61] The location of this
pillar is contiguous to the site where a Buddhist monastery and a sacred
coronation tank stood. Excavations are still underway and several
stupas suggesting a far flung campus for the monastery have been
discovered. The lion faces north, the direction Buddha took on his last
voyage.[62] Identification of the site for excavation in 1969 was aided
by the fact that this pillar still jutted out of the soil. More such
pillars exist in this greater area but they are all devoid of the
capital.

Pillar at Prayagraj

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Main articles: Allahabad pillar and Allahabad Stone Pillar Inscription of Samudra Gupta

In
Prayagraj there is a pillar with inscriptions from Ashoka and later
inscriptions attributed to Samudragupta and Jehangir. It is clear from
the inscription that the pillar was first erected at Kaushambi, an
ancient town some 30 kilometres west of Allahabad that was the capital
of the Koshala kingdom, and moved to Allahabad, presumably under Muslim
rule.[63]

The
pillar is now located inside the Allahabad Fort, also the royal palace,
built during the 16th century by Akbar at the confluence of the Ganges
and Yamuna rivers. As the fort is occupied by the Indian Army it is
essentially closed to the public and special permission is required to
see the pillar. The Ashokan inscription is in Brahmi and is dated around
232 BC. A later inscription attributed to the second king of the Gupta
empire, Samudragupta, is in the more refined Gupta script, a later
version of Brahmi, and is dated to around 375 AD. This inscription lists
the extent of the empire that Samudragupta built during his long reign.
He had already been king for forty years at that time and would rule
for another five. A still later inscription in Persian is from the
Mughal emperor Jahangir. The Akbar Fort also houses the Akshay Vat, an
Indian fig tree of great antiquity. The Ramayana refers to this tree
under which Lord Rama is supposed to have prayed while on exile.

Pillars at Lauriya-Areraj and Lauriya-Nandangarh

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The
column at Lauriya-Nandangarh, 23 km from Bettiah in West Champaran
district, Bihar has single lion capital. The hump and the hind legs of
the lion project beyond the abacus.[20] The pillar at Lauriya-Areraj in
East Champaran district, Bihar is presently devoid of any capital.

Erecting the Pillars

Edit

The
Pillars of Ashoka may have been erected using the same methods that
were used to erect the ancient obelisks. Roger Hopkins and Mark Lehrner
conducted several obelisk erecting experiments including a successful
attempt to erect a 25ton obelisk in 1999. This followed two experiments
to erect smaller obelisks and two failed attempts to erect a 25-ton
obelisk.[64][65]

Rediscoveries

Edit

Rediscovery of the Ashoka pillar in Sarnath, 1905.

A
number of the pillars were thrown down by either natural causes or
iconoclasts, and gradually rediscovered. One was noticed in the 16th
century by the English traveller Thomas Coryat in the ruins of Old
Delhi. Initially he assumed that from the way it glowed that it was made
of brass, but on closer examination he realized it was made of highly
polished sandstone with upright script that resembled a form of Greek.
In the 1830s James Prinsep began to decipher them with the help of
Captain Edward Smith and George Turnour. They determined that the script
referred to King Piyadasi which was also the epithet of an Indian ruler
known as Ashoka who came to the throne 218 years after Buddha’s
enlightenment. Scholars have since found 150 of Ashoka’s inscriptions,
carved into the face of rocks or on stone pillars marking out a domain
that stretched across northern India and south below the central plateau
of the Deccan. These pillars were placed in strategic sites near border
cities and trade routes.

The
Sanchi pillar was found in 1851 in excavations led by Sir Alexander
Cunningham, first head of the Archaeological Survey of India. There were
no surviving traces above ground of the Sarnath pillar, mentioned in
the accounts of medieval Chinese pilgrims, when the Indian Civil Service
engineer F.O. Oertel, with no real experience in archaeology, was
allowed to excavate there in the winter of 1904–05. He first uncovered
the remains of a Gupta shrine west of the main stupa, overlying an
Ashokan structure. To the west of that he found the lowest section of
the pillar, upright but broken off near ground level. Most of the rest
of the pillar was found in three sections nearby, and then, since the
Sanchi capital had been excavated in 1851, the search for an equivalent
was continued, and the Lion Capital of Ashoka, the most famous of the
group, was found close by. It was both finer in execution and in much
better condition than that at Sanchi. The pillar appeared to have been
deliberately destroyed at some point. The finds were recognised as so
important that the first onsite museum in India (and one of the few then
in the world) was set up to house them.[66]

Other Ashokan structures

Edit

The Buddha’s Diamond Throne and the Pillars of Ashoka

Discovery of Ashoka’s Diamond throne in Bodh Gaya, near the spot of the Buddha’s illumination and the Boddhi tree.

Side
decorative bands of the Diamond Throne (top) and the Sanchi pillar
capital (bottom), both featuring geese and flame palmettes.

Front
decorative friezes of the Diamond Throne (top) and the Sankissa pillar
capital (bottom), both alternating flame palmettes, rosettes and
lotuses.

Stupas

Legend
has it that Ashoka built 84,000 stupas commemorating the events and
relics of Buddha’s life. Some of these stupas contained networks of
walls containing the hub, spokes and rim of a wheel, while others
contained interior walls in a swastika (卐) shape. The wheel represents
the sun, time, and Buddhist law (the wheel of law, or dharmachakra),
while the swastika stands for the cosmic dance around a fixed center and
guards against evil.[15][16]

“Diamond throne” in Bodh Gaya

Main article: Vajrasana, Bodh Gaya

Ashoka
also built the Diamond Throne in Bodh Gaya, at the location where the
Buddha had reached enlightenment some 200 years earlier.[67][68] This
purely Buddhist monument to the Buddha is a thick slab of polished grey
sandstone with Mauryan polish[69]

The
sculpted decorations on the Diamond Throne clearly echoe the
decorations found on the Pillars of Ashoka.[70] The Diamond Throne has a
decorative band made of honeysuckles and geese, which can also be found
on several of the Pillars of Ashoka,[49] such as the Rampurva capitals
or the Sanchi capital.[69] The geese (hamsa) in particular are a very
recurrent symbol on the pillars of Ashoka, and may refer to the devotees
flocking to the faith.[68] The same throne is also illustrated in later
reliefs from Bharhut, dated to circa 100 BCE.[71]

Similar pillars

See also

Notes

Edit

^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Buddhist Architecture, Huu Phuoc Le, Grafikol, 2010 p.36-40

^
Bisschop, Peter C.; Cecil, Elizabeth A. (May 2019). Copp, Paul;
Wedemeyer, Christian K. (eds.). “Columns in Context: Venerable Monuments
and Landscapes of Memory in Early India”. History of Religions.
University of Chicago Press for the University of Chicago Divinity
School. 58 (4): 355–403. doi:10.1086/702256. ISSN 0018-2710. JSTOR
00182710. LCCN 64001081. OCLC 299661763.

^ a b Inscriptions of Asoka. New Edition by E. Hultzsch (in Sanskrit). 1925. p. 132, Edict No 7 line 23.

^ Skilling, Peter (1998). Mahasutras. Pali Text Society. p. 453. ISBN 9780860133209.

^
a b Himanshu Prabha Ray (7 August 2014). The Return of the Buddha:
Ancient Symbols for a New Nation. Routledge. p. 123. ISBN 9781317560067.

^ India: The Ancient Past: A History of the Indian Subcontinent from c. 7000 BCE to CE 1200, Burjor Avari Routledge, 2016 p.139

^ a b Krishnaswamy, 697-698

^ “KING ASHOKA: His Edicts and His Times”. www.cs.colostate.edu. Retrieved 29 October 2017.

^ India: The Ancient Past: A History of the Indian Subcontinent from c. 7000 BCE to CE 1200, Burjor Avari, Routledge, 2016 p.149

^ State Emblem, Know India india.gov.in

^ Companion, 430

^ “Lion Capital of Ashoka At Sarnath Archaeological Museum Near Varanasi India”. YouTube.

^ Agrawala, Vasudeva Sharana (1965). Studies In Indian Art. p. 67.

^ “Remains of the topmost wheel in the Sarnath Archaeological Museum”. 17 February 2019.

^ a b Time Life Lost Civilizations series: Ancient India: Land Of Mystery (1994) p. 84-85,94-97

^ a b Oliphant, Margaret “The Atlas Of The Ancient World” 1992 p. 156-7

^
a b c “It can also be suggested that Lats topped by animals figures
also have an ancestor in the sphinx-topped pillars of Greece of the
Middle-Archaic period (c.580-40 B.C), Delphi Museum at Delphi, Greece,
has an elegant winged sphinx figure sitting on an Ionic capital with
side volutes.” in Graeco-Indica, India’s cultural contexts with the
Greek world, Ramanand Vidya Bhawan, 1991, p.5

^ Harle, 22

^ Thapar, Romila (2001). Aśoka and the Decline of the Mauryan, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-564445-X, pp.267-70

^ a b c Mahajan V.D. (1960, reprint 2007). Ancient India, S.Chand & Company, New Delhi, ISBN 81-219-0887-6, pp.350-3

^ Companion,

^ a b Buddhist Architecture, by Huu Phuoc Le, Grafikol, 2010 p.44

^ Rebecca M. Brown, Deborah S. Hutton. A Companion to Asian Art and Architecture. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 423–429.

^ a b Boardman (1998), 15

^ Boardman (1998), 13

^ Harle, 22, 24, quoted in turn

^ A Comprehensive History Of Ancient India, Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd, 2003, p.87

^ Stewart, Desmond. Pyramids and the Sphinx. [S.l.]: Newsweek, U.S., 72. Print.

^
Irwin, John (1974). “‘Aśokan’ Pillars: A Reassessment of the
Evidence-II: Structure”. The Burlington Magazine. 116 (861): 712–727.
ISSN 0007-6287. JSTOR 877843.

^ Agrawala, Vasudeva S. (1977). Gupta Art Vol.ii.

^
Irwin, John (1983). “The Ancient Pillar-Cult at Prayāga (Allahabad):
Its Pre-Aśokan Origins”. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great
Britain and Ireland. 115 (2): 253–280. doi:10.1017/S0035869X00137487.
ISSN 0035-869X. JSTOR 25211537.

^ Boardman (1998), 13-19

^
Singh, Upinder (2008). A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India:
From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Pearson Education India. p. 361.
ISBN 9788131711200. Retrieved 10 April 2018.

^ The Early History of India by Vincent A. Smith

^ Annual report 1906-07 p.89

^ Ashoka, 2

^
Singh, Upinder (2008). A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India:
From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. New Delhi: Pearson Education. p.
358. ISBN 978-81-317-1677-9.

^ Buddshit Architecture, Le Huu Phuoc, Grafikol 2009, p.169

^ Sircar, D. C. (1979). Asokan studies. pp. 118–122.

^ Sircar, D. C. (1979). Asokan studies. p. 118.

^ Mapio

^ Asoka by Radhakumud Mookerji p.85

^ a b Buddhist Architecture, Le Huu Phuoc, Grafikol 2009, p.40

^
Geary, David (2017). The Rebirth of Bodh Gaya: Buddhism and the Making
of a World Heritage Site. University of Washington Press. p. 209 Note 1.
ISBN 9780295742380.

^ A Brief History of India, Alain Daniélou, Inner Traditions / Bear & Co, 2003, p.89-91 [1]

^
The pillars “owe something to the pervasive influence of Achaemenid
architecture and sculpture, with no little Greek architectural ornament
and sculptural style as well. Notice the florals on the bull capital
from Rampurva, and the style of the horse of the Sarnath capital, now
the emblem of the Republic of India.” “The Diffusion of Classical Art in
Antiquity” by John Boardman, Princeton University Press, 1993, p.110

^
Le, Huu Phuoc (29 October 2017). Buddhist Architecture. Grafikol. ISBN
9780984404308. Retrieved 29 October 2017 – via Google Books.

^
Le, Huu Phuoc (29 October 2017). Buddhist Architecture. Grafikol. ISBN
9780984404308. Retrieved 29 October 2017 – via Google Books.

^ a b Buddhist Architecture, Huu Phuoc Le, Grafikol, 2010 p.240

^ a b Le Huu Phuoc, Buddhist Architecture, p.42

^ a b c The True Chronology of Aśokan Pillars, John Irwin, Artibus Asiae, Vol. 44, No. 4 (1983), pp. 247-265 [2]

^ Story of the Delhi Iron Pillar, R. Balasubramaniam p.19

^ The Past Before Us, Romila Thapar p.361

^ a b Buddhist Architecture, Le Huu Phuoc, Grafikol 2009, pp 238-248

^ “The Ashokan rock edicts are a marvel of history”.

^
Inscriptions of Ashoka by Alexander Cunningham, Eugen Hultzsch.
Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing. Calcutta:
1877

^ “British Museum Highlights”. Retrieved 29 October 2017.

^ Full texts, An English rendering by Ven. S. Dhammika, 1993

^ “Wat Umong Chiang Mai”. Thailand’s World. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2013.

^ Companion, 428-429

^ “Destinations :: Vaishali”.

^ “Destinations :: Vaishali ::Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation”. bstdc.bih.nic.in. Retrieved 29 October 2017.

^ Krishnaswamy, 697-700

^ “NOVA Online - Mysteries of the Nile - August 27, 1999: The Third Attempt”. www.pbs.org. Retrieved 29 October 2017.

^ Time Life Lost Civilizations series: Ramses II: Magnificence on the Nile (1993)p. 56-57

^ Allen, Chapter 15

^
A Global History of Architecture, Francis D. K. Ching, Mark M.
Jarzombek, Vikramaditya Prakash, John Wiley & Sons, 2017 p.570ff

^ a b Buddhist Architecture, Huu Phuoc Le p.240

^ a b Alexander Cunningham, Mahâbodhi, or the great Buddhist temple under the Bodhi tree at Buddha-Gaya p.19 Public Domain text

^ Allen, Charles (2012). Ashoka: The Search for India’s Lost Emperor. Little, Brown Book Group. p. 133. ISBN 9781408703885.

^ Mahâbodhi, Cunningham p.4ff Public Domain text

^ Buddhist Architecture by Huu Phuoc Le p.45

References

Further reading

External links

Last edited 27 days ago by पाटलिपुत्र

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