A report on Heliodorus pillar, Madhya Pradesh and Sanchi

Physical map of Madhya Pradesh village Tumen Ashoknagar

Plan of the monuments of the hill of Sanchi, numbered 1 to 50.

The fan-palm pinnacle Cunningham assumed belonged to the Heliodorus pillar.

Matang was completely developed and manufactured by Vehicle Factory Jabalpur

The capital of the Sanchi pillar of Ashoka, as discovered (left), and simulation of original appearance (right). It is very similar to the Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath, except for the abacus, here adorned with flame palmettes and facing geese, 250 BCE. Sanchi Archaeological Museum.

by later illustrations among the Sanchi reliefs

The Great Stupa under the Sungas. The Sungas nearly doubled the diameter of the initial stupa, encasing it in stone, and built a balustrade and a railing around it.

A cross-section of the Heliodorus pillar sketched during the 1913 CE archaeological excavation.

Mesolithic rock painting, Bhimbetka rock shelters, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Foreigner on a horse, circa 115 BCE, Stupa No2.

Structure and decorative elements of the Heliodorus pillar. The pillar originally supported a statue of Garuda, now lost, or possibly located in the Gujari Mahal Museum in Gwalior.

Sunga period railings were initially blank (left: Great Stupa), and only started to be decorated circa 115 BCE with Stupa No.2 (right).

Main inscription of the Heliodorus pillar, circa 110 BCE.

Bateshwar temple complex, Padavli, Morena

Sunga pillar No25 with own capital on the side.

Relief depicting a portable Garuda pillar, one of the oldest images of Garuda, Bharhut, 100 BCE. This may have been similar to the Garuda capital of the Heliodorus pillar.

Images of the deities were probably present in shrines adjoining the pillars, in a style rather similar with their depiction on the coinage of Agathocles of Bactria (190-180 BCE). Here Saṃkarṣaṇa and Vāsudeva are shown with their attributes.

The deity to whom the Heliodorus pillar was dedicated: Vāsudeva, as depicted on a coin of Agathocles of Bactria, 190-180 BCE.

The Great Stupa at the time of the Satavahanas.

The fan-palm capital, found next to the Heliodorus pillar, is associated with Saṃkarṣaṇa.

Brahma statue with various deities at Amarkantak.

Temptation of the Buddha, with the Buddha on the left (symbolized by his throne only) surrounded by rejoicing devotees, Mara and his daughters (center), and the demons of Mara fleeing (right).

The Makara capital, found at the site of the Heliodorus pillar, is associated with Pradyumna. <ref>{{cite book|last1=Ayyar|first1=Sulochana|title=Costumes and Ornaments as Depicted in the Sculptures of Gwalior Museum|date=1987|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=978-81-7099-002-4|page=13|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G9eHPXL6UE0C&pg=PA13|language=en}}</ref> 2nd century BCE.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=VIENNOT|first1=Odette|title=Le Makara dans la Décoration des Monuments de l'Inde Ancienne : Positions et Fonctions|journal=Arts Asiatiques|volume=5|issue=3|date=1958|page=184|jstor=43484068 }}</ref> Gwalior Museum.<ref>Visible in the back of the image entitled "Lion capital – Udayagiri – 5th century": {{cite web|title=Gujari Mahal State Archaeological Museum – Gwalior|url=https://kevinstandagephotography.wordpress.com/2019/04/15/gujari-mahal-state-archaeological-museum-gwalior/#jp-carousel-16148|website=Kevin Standage|language=en|date=15 April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Ayyar|first1=Sulochana|title=Costumes and Ornaments as Depicted in the Sculptures of Gwalior Museum|date=1987|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=978-81-7099-002-4|page=13|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G9eHPXL6UE0C&pg=PA13|language=en}}</ref>

War over the Buddha's Relics, kept by the city of Kushinagar, South Gate, Stupa no.1, Sanchi.

A pillar capital shaped as a Kalpadruma tree, also found nearby at Besnagar, probably associated with Lakshmi. Indian Museum, Kolkata.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ayyar|first1=Sulochana|title=Costumes and Ornaments as Depicted in the Sculptures of Gwalior Museum|date=1987|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=978-81-7099-002-4|page=13|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G9eHPXL6UE0C&pg=PA13|language=en}}</ref>

King Ashoka visits Ramagrama, to take relics of the Buddha from the Nagas, but he failed, the Nagas being too powerful. Southern gateway, Stupa 1, Southern Gateway, Sanchi.

Possible statue of the goddess Lakshmi, also associated with the Bhagavat cult.

Langur monkey (Semnopithecus dussumieri), Orchha

Ashoka in grief, supported by his two queens, in a relief at Sanchi. Stupa 1, Southern gateway. The identification with Ashoka is confirm by a similar relief from Kanaganahalli inscribed "Raya Asoko".

Location of the Heliodorus pillar in relation to Besnagar, Vidisha, Sanchi and the Udayagiri Caves.

Tigress with cubs in Kanha Tiger Reserve

Bodhi tree temple depicted in Sanchi, Stupa 1, Southern gateway.

Heliodorus was the ambassador of king Antialcidas (here depicted on one of his coins).

Tickell's blue flycatcher, Bandhavgarh National Park

Temple for the Bodhi Tree (Eastern Gateway).

The contemporary pillar in nearby Sanchi.

foreigners illustrated at Sanchi worshiping the Great Stupa

Male nilgais fighting, Lakeshwari, Gwalior district

The River Narmada flows through a gorge of marble rocks in Bhedaghat, Jabalpur

The Shri Ram Ghat on the Shipra River in Ujjain

Miracle of the Buddha walking on the river Nairanjana

Betwa in the Ashoknagar District of Madhya Pradesh

Procession of king Suddhodana from Kapilavastu

"The promenade of the Buddha", or Chankrama, used to depict the Buddha in motion in Buddhist aniconism.

Bimbisara with his royal cortege issuing from the city of Rajagriha to visit the Buddha

Foreigners making a dedication at the Southern Gateway of Stupa No 1

Stupas and monasteries at Sanchi in the early centuries of the current era. Reconstruction, 1900

Bagh Print Traditional hand block print craft in Bagh.

A man playing flute in Orchha, with a white tilak on his forehead, and holy saffron-coloured clothes.

Temple 17: a Gupta period tetrastyle prostyle temple of Classical appearance. 5th century CE

Sand sculpture by Sudarshan Pattnaik at Bandrabhan near Hoshangabad

Statue of Padmapani (5th c.or 9th c.) Victoria and Albert Museum.

Rajiv Gandhi Technical University's main gate

Pillar 26: one of the two four-lions stambha capitals at Sanchi, with lions, central flame palmette and Wheel of Law (axis, stubs of the spokes and part of the circumference only), initially located at the Northern Gateway of the Great Stupa. Sanchi Archaeological Museum.

Pillar 26: lion pillar capital at time of discovery, with Dharmachakra wheel (reconstitution). Northern Gateway.

St. Aloysius Senior Secondary School, Jabalpur, established in the year 1868 is among the oldest schools in India

Pillar 35 column stump (right), and bell capital with abacus, positioned upside down.

Vajrapani statue of pillar 35, 5th c. CE. Sanchi Archaeological Museum.

Temple 18 at Sanchi, an apsidal hall with Maurya foundations, rebuilt at the time of Harsha (7th century CE).

The Great Stupa as breached by Sir Herbert Maddock in 1822. Watercolor by Frederick Charles Maisey, in 1851.

Ruins of the Southern Gateway, Sanchi in 1875.

Inscribed panel from Sanchi in Brahmi script in the British Museum

The last two letters to the right of this inscription in Brahmi form the word "dǎnam" (donation). This hypothesis permitted the decipherment of the Brahmi script by James Prinsep in 1837.

General view of the Stupas at Sanchi by F.C. Maisey, 1851 (The Great Stupa on top of the hill, and Stupa 2 at the forefront)

The Great Stupa (Stupa No.1), started in the 3rd century BCE

Remains of the Ashokan Pillar in polished stone (right of the Southern Gateway), with its Edict.

Sanchi Minor Pillar Edict of Ashoka, in-situ (detail of the previous image).

Remains of the shaft of the pillar of Ashoka, under a shed near the Southern Gateway.

Side view of the capital. Sanchi Archaeological Museum.<ref name="p.25-28 Ashoka pillar"/>

Shunga vedika (railing) with inscriptions.

Lakshmi with lotus and two child attendants, probably derived from [[:File:Venus with two cupids 2.jpg|similar images of Venus]]<ref>An Indian Statuette From Pompeii, Mirella Levi D'Ancona, in Artibus Asiae, Vol. 13, No. 3 (1950) p. 171</ref>

Detail of the foreigners, in Greek dress and playing carnyxes and aolus flute. Northern Gateway of Stupa I (detail).

Foreigners holding grapes and riding winged lions, Sanchi Stupa 1, Eastern Gateway.<ref>"The Diffusion of Classical Art in Antiquity, John Boardman, 1993, p. 112 Note 91</ref>

Foreigners on horses, wearing headbands, caps and boots. Western gate of Stupa 1.

The Buddha represented by the Dharmacakra.

Bottom panel Dvarapala guardian deity or devotee.

Pillar 34 with lion.<ref>Marshall p. 52 Pillar 34</ref>

The winged lion capital of pillar 34 (lost).

A vision of ancient Indian court life, using motifs from Sanchi (wood engraving, 1878).

The Heliodorus pillar is a stone column that was erected around 113 BCE in central India in Besnagar (near Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh).

- Heliodorus pillar

Sanchi is a Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the State of Madhya Pradesh, India.

- Sanchi

The Heliodorus pillar site is located near the confluence of two rivers, about 60 km northeast from Bhopal, 11 km from the Buddhist stupa of Sanchi, and 4 km from the Hindu Udayagiri site.

- Heliodorus pillar

Heliodorus, the Greek Ambassador to the court of the Shunga King Bhagabhadra erected the Heliodorus pillar near Vidisha.

- Madhya Pradesh

Foreigners from Gandhara are otherwise known to have visited the region around the same time: in 115 BCE, the embassy of Heliodorus from Indo-Greek king Antialkidas to the court of the Sungas king Bhagabhadra in nearby Vidisha is recorded, in which Heliodorus established the Heliodorus pillar in a dedication to Vāsudeva.

- Sanchi

Three sites in Madhya Pradesh have been declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO: the Khajuraho Group of Monuments (1986) including Devi Jagadambi temple, Khajuraho, Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi (1989) and the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka (2003).

- Madhya Pradesh