Pillars of Ashoka

Pillars of Ashoka
One of the Pillars of Ashoka, in Vaishali
Material	Polished sandstone
Period/culture	3rd century BC
Sarnath Sanchi Rampurva Vaishali Sankissa Nandangarh Meerut Topra Kalan Araraj Allahabad Rummindei Nigali class=notpageimage| Known locations of the Pillars of Ashoka[1]

The pillars of Ashoka are a series of monolithic pillars dispersed throughout the Indian subcontinent, erected—or at least inscribed with edicts—by the 3rd Mauryan Emperor Ashoka the Great, who reigned from c. 268 to 232 BC.^[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. Twenty of the pillars erected by Ashoka 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]

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 BC, 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.