Eran (District Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh). Satellite view (Wikimapia).
Pillar as represented by Fredrick Charles Maisey
(© British Library)
| Metadata | |
|---|---|
| Object ID | OB00041 |
| Title | Eran Pillar of the time of Budhagupta |
| Subtitle | |
| Inscription(s) | IN00045 IN00226 IN00227 IN00228 IN00230 IN00229 |
| Child Object | |
| Parent Object | |
| Related Objects | |
| Responsibility | |
| Author | |
| Metadata recorded by | Dániel Balogh |
| Authority for metadata | |
| Metadata improved by | Dániel Balogh |
| Authoriy for improved | |
| Description | |
| Material | Stone / sandstone |
| Object Type | Pillar |
| Dimensions: | |
| Width | 87 |
| Height | 1310 |
| Depth | 87 |
| Weight | |
| Details | Red sandstone. The monolithic pillar is on a pedestal 4 metres square, 23 metres to the east of the general line of the Eraṇ temples, about 800 metres west of the village. By its position it seems to be connected to the small double temple marked C and D in ASIR 10: 87. The lower part of the shaft is square to a height of 6 metres (width and depth dimensions above pertain to this section). The next section is octagonal for 244 cm. This is followed by the capital, consisting of a lotus bell 106 cm tall, an abacus 46 cm tall, and a square block 92 cm tall. The lower half of this block is plain, while the upper half bears on each face two lions sitting back to back. On top of this there is a two-armed male figure 152 cm tall, with a radiated halo around its head. The figure has two fronts and no back. One of the faces looks west towards the temples, the other east towards the town. In addition to the inscription of Mātṛviṣṇu and Dhanyaviṣṇu (IN00045), the pillar bears several shell inscriptions, some stunningly exquisite, and a number of graffiti in late Gupta characters, including IN00226, IN00227, IN00228, IN00229 and IN00230. |
| History | |
| Created: | |
| Date | |
| Place | Airikiṇa |
| Other ancient history | |
| Found: | |
| Date | |
| Place | |
| Other modern history | |
| Latest: | |
| Date | 2017 |
| Place | Airikiṇa |
| Authority | |
| Details | Discovered in 1838 by Captain T.S. Burt of the Engineers. Remains in situ. |
| Notes | This pillar has a number of graffiti on it. Four of these, said to be the only ones in ancient characters, are copied, transliterated and translated in Prinsep 1838c: 634-635. One of them mentions sāmanta doṣa (see http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/photocoll/s/019pho000001003u01297000.html); another mentions a sāmantapauttra. There is a recent article, possibly by Alok Shrotriya, about some graffiti on the pillar: "New inscriptions found from Eran", Kala Vaibhav, Journal of Indira Kala and Sangeet University, Khairagarh (C.G.) INDIA, Vol. XIV, 2004–05, pp. 47–51. |