Ashokan Pillar, Kolhua
Ashokan pillar · the Buddha; Emperor Ashoka · Kolhua, Vaishali, Bihar
Kolhua is where the Buddha stayed repeatedly and is held to be where he gave his last sermon and...
A single piece of highly polished red sandstone, 18.3 m high (about 11 m above ground), topped by a bell-shaped capital and a life-size lion, one of the best preserved Ashokan pillars, carrying Gupta-era inscriptions but no edicts. Around it are the ruins of a Buddhist monastery, a ruined stupa, and the tank called Ramkund / Markat-Hrad. The ASI protects it as a monument of national importance.
Plan your visit
- Best season
- September to April" (Bihar Tourism)
- Area
- Vaishali
- Status
- Coming Soon
Yatras that include Ashokan Pillar
- Mauryan and Ashokan Bihar: Vaishali, a single-lion pillar beside a tank and a stupa.
Tirtham can arrange here
Guide, car and stay around Vaishali
Also around Vaishali
- Sattu sharbat in summer: What Bihar drinks against the heat: roasted gram, water, lemon and salt, sold from carts on every corner.
- Vaishali archaeological museum: What was dug out of the city where the Buddha preached and Mahavira was born.
- Vaishali Mahotsav: The district's festival for Mahavira's birth, held in the town where he was born.
- Shahi litchi season: For five weeks each summer Muzaffarpur sells the litchi India knows it by, GI-registered in 2018.
- Lac bangles of Muzaffarpur: The lac bangles the district itself names as the town's craft.
- The Kartik Purnima fair at Sonepur: Asia's largest livestock fair, at the meeting of the Ganga and the Gandak, from Kartik Purnima.
Nearby places
- Vaishali: An early republic, sacred to Buddhists and Jains
- Abhishek Pushkarni: Pilgrims visit it as a holy bathing tank of the Lichchhavis, tied both to the Buddha's stay at Kolhua...
- Bhagwan Mahavir Janma Bhoomi, Basokund: Jains come to the birthplace of Mahavira; it is one of the principal Jain tirthas of Bihar
- Bawan Pokhar Temple: It is the principal Hindu shrine within the Vaishali archaeological complex, visited alongside the...
- Chaumukhi Mahadev: Devotees come to worship the four-faced Shivling, an unusual form not found elsewhere in the district
- Ramchaura Mandir: Devotees come for darshan of the footprints of Rama at a stop on his journey to Janakpur
- Kaunhara Ghat: Pilgrims bathe and pray at the confluence, especially on full-moon days
- Budhi Mai Temple: Local and regional devotees come to the goddess Budhi Mai, chiefly at the time of her mela
Questions pilgrims ask
Why is Ashokan Pillar important?
A single piece of highly polished red sandstone, 18.3 m high (about 11 m above ground), topped by a bell-shaped capital and a life-size lion, one of the best preserved Ashokan pillars, carrying Gupta-era inscriptions but no edicts. Around it are the ruins of a Buddhist monastery, a ruined stupa, and the tank called Ramkund / Markat-Hrad. The ASI protects it as a monument of national importance.
When is the best time to visit Ashokan Pillar?
September to April" (Bihar Tourism).
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