Pillars of Ashoka

Laborers cut and dragged the stone from quarries in Mathura and Chunar, located in the northern part of India within Ashoka's empire. The pillars weigh about 50 tons each. Only 19 of the original pillars survive and many are in fragments.

In a bid to defend Buddhism and spread its teachings, Ashoka commissioned a series of stone pillars inscribed with teachings and moral codes. These Ashoka pillar monuments were not placed haphazardly but within strategic and sacred locations, including cities, trade routes, and pilgrimage centres.

Several Buddhist structures were raised at Sarnath between the 3rd century BC and the 11th century AD, and today it presents the most expansive ruins amongst places on the Buddhist trail. Besides Buddhism, Sarnath is also connected with Jainism. The Ashoka pillar of Sarnath is the National emblem of India.