Place · Ashokan pillar · India
Rāmpurvā pillars
The two Ashokan pillars at Rampurva in West Champaran district, Bihar, on the ancient Pataliputra-Lumbini road, carrying the six pillar edicts of 243 BCE. One pillar is topped with a lion capital in the Lauriya tradition, the other with a bull capital — the only known Ashokan bull-topped pillar — making Rampurva unique as a pillar pair with two different animal capitals. The bull capital is now in the Indian Museum, Kolkata; the lion capital remains at Rashtrapati Bhavan, Delhi. The pillars were discovered by Alexander Cunningham in 1876. The site also preserves a large stupa and a monastery complex excavated by Daya Ram Sahni in 1907.
- Function
- Sacred site & pilgrimage
- Tradition
- Ashokan edicts (Brahmi, Kharosthi, Greek, Aramaic)
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
- Location
- 27.270, 84.500
Connections (1)
- Ashokan stone from ChunarChunar
The two Rampurva pillars, one with a lion capital and one with a bull, stood on the old road from Pataliputra toward Lumbini and the Nepal terai — the route a pilgrim to the Buddha's birthplace would take. Their stone is traced to Chunar, as is most Ashokan pillar sandstone, so the empire's commemorative programme rested on a single quarry and a long river haul.
On these journeys
Sources
Major Pillar Edicts — Rampurva
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