Heliodorus Pillar

The Heliodorus pillar is a stone column that was erected around 113 BCE in central India in Vidisha near modern Besnagar, by Heliodorus, an Indo-Greek ambassador of the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas to the court of the Shunga king Bhagabhadra. Truly, it is one of the most punctual known engraving identified with the Vaishnavism in India. The site is situated around 60 kilometers 37 mi upper east from Bhopal and 11 kilometers 6.8 mi from the Buddhist stupa of Sanchi. The column was surmounted by a model of Garuda and was devoted by Heliodorus to the god Vasudeva before the sanctuary of Vasudeva.

As indicated by Rawlinson, the pilgrim British period student of history, local people considered it the Khamba Baba or Khambaba. The outline of the base of the capital with ringer formed lotus, the link necking, and the math device with pecking-geese and nectar suckle plans are in coordinate prolongation of the creative decisions made in the mainstays of Ashoka, with a few ieties, for example, the kaleidoscopic structure of the column or the subtle elements of the cutting, by and large less fine than those of the mainstays of Ashoka. It is likewise about half littler in measurements than the mainstays of Ashoka.