Ashokan Pillar in Delhi

Last time, when I visited I missed to see one of the famous Ashokan pillars in Delhi. While paying trip to Firoz Shah Kotla, I saw one of them but for lack of time could not visit the other pillar near Bara Hindu Rao Hospital. These pillars were the gifts to Delhi from Firoz Shah Tughlaq of the Tughlaq dynasty, way back in the fourteenth century.. The pillar at Firoz Shah Kotla was brought from Topra in Ambala and the other one was present in Meerut before it was placed near Bara Hindu Rao Hospital at Ridge near Delhi University.

The Ashokan Pillars or rather Pillars of Ashoka are the columns erected in several places of India for the initiative of Emperor Ashoka during 3rd century B.C. The pillars are carved with teachings of Buddha and the inscriptions are famous as Eddicts of Ashoka. Firoz Shah, who ruled Delhi in mid fourteenth century, was known for his fondness of architecture and nothing detered him from putting the columns up in Delhi. It is said that the Ashokan Pillar at Firoz Shah Kotla, was wrapped in silk cloth while bringing it to Delhi and later after being encased in reed and raw skin was placed on a 42-wheel carriage. Two hundred men pulled the cart to Yamuna bank where it was transferred to boats and carried to Firozadabad and then to Kushal. Firoz Shah Tughlaq built a pyramidal structure of three storey over which the pillar was placed and still stand as one of the major tourist attraction of the Delhi. It is polished and is in good condition unlike the Ashokan pillar near the Hindu Rao Hospital.

The column, placed near the hospital, was broken into pieces for gun powder explosion in 1713. In 1838, Hindu Rao took the pieces and donated to Asiatic Society in Calcutta. It was in 1867, the pieces were joined together and the pillar was erected at its original position as one of the architectural splendor. If you haven't seen the Ashokan pillars, you can see them and more wonderful pieces of architecture in the photo gallery of

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Ashokan Pillars in Delhi