C. 113 BCE column in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, India
Heliodorus pillar
Heliodorus pillar in Vidisha, India.
Period/culture
late 2nd Century BCE
Place
Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, India.
Present location
Vidisha, India
INDO- GREEKS
Heliodorus pillar
Taxila
SATAVAHANAS
MAHAMEGHA- VAHANAS
MALAVAS
SHUNGA EMPIRE
class=notpageimage|
The Heliorodorus pillar was erected and dedicated by Heliorodorus, an Indo-Greek ambassador to the Shunga Empire
The Heliodorus pillar is a stone column that was erected around 113 BCE in central India[1] in Besnagar (near Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh). The pillar was called the Garuda-standard by Heliodorus, referring to the deity Garuda. The pillar is commonly named after Heliodorus, who was an ambassador of the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas from Taxila, and was sent to the Indian ruler Bhagabhadra.[2] A dedication written in Brahmi script was inscribed on the pillar, venerating Vāsudeva (krishna), the Deva deva the "God of Gods" and the Supreme Deity.[3][4][5][6] The pillar also glorifies the Indian ruler as "Bhagabhadra the savior". The pillar is a stambha which symbolizes joining earth, space and heaven, and is thought to connote the "cosmic axis" and express the cosmic totality of the Deity.[3]
The Heliodorus pillar site is located near the confluence of two rivers, about 60 kilometres (37 mi) northeast from Bhopal, 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) from the Buddhist stupa of Sanchi, and 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from the Hindu Udayagiri site.[7]
The pillar was discovered by Alexander Cunningham in 1877. Two major archaeological excavations in the 20th-century have revealed the pillar to be a part of an ancient Vāsudeva temple site.[4][8][9] Aside from religious scriptures such as the Bhagavad Gita, the epigraphical inscriptions on the Heliodorus pillar and the Hathibada Ghosundi Inscriptions contain some of the earliest known writings of Vāsudeva-Krishna devotion and early Vaishnavism and are considered the first archeological evidence of its existence.[10][11][12][13][14][6] The pillar has been called one of the earliest surviving records of a foreign convert into Vaishnavism.[15][6] An alternative interpretation is that making dedications to foreign gods was only a logical practice for the Greeks, intended to appropriate their local power and cannot be regarded as a "conversion" to Hinduism.[16]
^Avari, Burjor (2016). India: The Ancient Past: A History of the Indian Subcontinent from C. 7000 BCE to CE 1200. Routledge. p. 167. ISBN 978-1-317-23673-3.
^Journal of Indian History. Department of Modern Indian History. 1973.
^ abDevadeva, the "God of Gods", the Supreme Deity in Approaches to Iconology. Brill Archive. 1985. p. 41. ISBN 978-90-04-07772-0.
^ abCite error: The named reference SW was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference RS265 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abcBryant, Edwin Francis (2007). Krishna: A Sourcebook. Oxford University Press. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-19-803400-1.
^Julia Shaw (2016). Buddhist Landscapes in Central India: Sanchi Hill and Archaeologies of Religious and Social Change, c. Third Century BC to Fifth Century AD. Taylor & Francis. pp. xliv, cxliv. ISBN 978-1-315-43263-2.
^John Irwin 1974, pp. 166–176.
^M D Khare 1975.
^Krishna: The Beautiful Legend of God: Srimad Bhagavata Purana. Penguin UK. 2003-12-04. ISBN 978-0-14-191337-7.
^Osmund Bopearachchi, 2016, Emergence of Viṣṇu and Śiva Images in India: Numismatic and Sculptural Evidence
^Burjor Avari (2016). India: The Ancient Past: A History of the Indian Subcontinent from C. 7000 BCE to CE 1200. Routledge. pp. 165–167. ISBN 978-1-317-23673-3.
^Romila Thapar (2004). Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300. University of California Press. pp. 216–217. ISBN 978-0-520-24225-8.
^K. G. Goswami, A Study of Vaisnavism (Calcutta: Oriental Book Agency, 1956), p. 6
^Avari, Burjor (2016). India: The Ancient Past: A History of the Indian Subcontinent from c. 7000 BCE to CE 1200. Routledge. p. 167. ISBN 978-1-317-23673-3.
^"Venerating Vāsudeva, as did Heliodor in the time of Antialkidas, should not be regarded as a "conversion" to Hinduism, but rather as the result for a search for the most helpful local powers, upholding own traditions in a foreign garb." in Falk, Harry. Greek style dedications. p. 40.
The Heliodoruspillar is a stone column that was erected around 113 BCE in central India in Besnagar (near Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh). The pillar was called...
Heliodorus (ambassador), a Greek ambassador who erected famous votive Heliodoruspillar around 110 BC near Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, India Heliodorus (metrist)...
Heliodorus – an Indo-Greek who served as an ambassador of the Greek king Antialcidas to a regional Indian king, Kasiputra Bhagabhadra. The Heliodorus...
kings" might be. Other broadly contemporary inscriptions, such as the Heliodoruspillar inscription, are only assumed to relate to Shunga rulers. The Ayodhya...
Buddhist railings Besnagar Buddhist railings Besnagar pillar capitals View of Heliodoruspillar Besnagar Ganga statue Besnagar was known as Bhelsa during...
Buddha. The Heliodoruspillar is a stone column that was erected around 113 BCE in central India in Vidisha near modern Besnagar, by Heliodorus, an ambassador...
from an inscription at the site of Vidisha in central India, the Heliodoruspillar, in which contacts with an embassy from the Indo-Greek King Antialcidas...
horseback carrying a Garudadhvaja. Heliodoruspillar has been called Garudadhvaja, literally Garuda-standard, the pillar dated to 2nd century BC is perhaps...
Wootz steel Other pillars of India Ashoka's Major Rock Edicts Dhar iron pillar List of Edicts of Ashoka Pillars of Ashoka Heliodoruspillar Stambha Other...
century BCE as evidenced by the stupas of Sanchi and the Heliodoruspillar. While the Heliodoruspillar has been preserved, others have survived in ruins. Buddhism...
Agathocles of Bactria (190-180 BCE) and by the devotional character of the Heliodoruspillar inscription (circa 110 BCE). Later, the association with Narayana...
standard is the crocodile". A pillar capital with the effigy of a Makara crocodile found at Besnagar near the Heliodoruspillar dedicated to Vasudeva, is...
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...
standard is the crocodile". A pillar capital with the effigy of a Makara crocodile found at Besnagar near the Heliodoruspillar dedicated to Vasudeva, is...
Ashoka (280 BCE) The mention of the "Yona king Aṃtalikitasa" in the Heliodoruspillar in Vidisha (110 BCE) King Milinda and his bodyguard of "500 Yonas"...
king Antialcidas ruled in Taxila around 100 BCE, according to the Heliodoruspillar inscription. Jaulian, a World Heritage Site at Taxila. Jaulian silver...
BCE, such as in the inscriptions of the Heliodoruspillar. An Indo-Greek ambassador from Taxila named Heliodorus, of this era, visited the court of a Shunga...
Sun-bird Garuda with the "Devadeva" ("God of Gods") Vāsudeva in the Heliodoruspillar (113 BCE) suggests that the Bhagavat cult of human deities had already...
Besnagar, the temple structures have been found in conjonction with the Heliodoruspillar dedicated to Vāsudeva. The archaeologists found an ancient elliptical...
entire temple campus with great walls, towards, mandapas, halls with 1000 pillars were constructed over a period of 300 years from the 14th to 17th century...
early historic period of the Indian Sub continent. Heliodoruspillar inscription also declares the pillar to be Garudadhvaja or Garuda standard. Indus seal...
archeological evidence of Greek-born Hindus in the Hellenistic era, see Heliodoruspillar. Hinduism in Greece has a small following. On March 1, 2006, the Greek...
Global Information
