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The Rampurva capitals are the capital (architecture), capitals of a pair of Pillars of Ashoka, Ashoka Pillars discovered in by A. C. L. Carlleyle. The archaeological site is called Rampurva, and is located in the West Champaran district of the Indian state of Bihar, situated very close to the border with Nepal. The lion capital is now in the Indian Museum in Kolkota, while the bull capital is located at the center of the porch of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Indian Presidential Palace.
The lion pillar is inscribed with the Major Pillar Edicts of the Edicts of Ashoka, Pillar Edicts I, II, III, IV, V, VI.''Buddhist architecture, Huu Phuoc Le, Grafikol, 201
p.36-40
/ref>
/ref> The bull is without inscriptions, presumably because its twin pillar, the Rampurava lion pillar already had them and therefore there was no need to repeat. It is thought that the bull symbol is not related to the bull Nandi (bull), Nandi of Hinduism, as Ashoka was quite eclectic in his choice of animals for his pillars anyway: lions, elephants, camels, geese, and horses are known.
File:Rampurva Pillar excavation 1877.jpg, Rampurva pillar excavation 1877.
File:Rampurva pillars.jpg, Remains of the pillars today.
File:Original Rampurva bull at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New delhi, India.jpg, Original Rampurva bull up the stairs of Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi.
Buddhist significance
Laurence Waddell, Waddell in 1896 suggested that the death or parinirvana of Gautama Buddha was in the region of Rampurva: "I believe that Kusīnagara, where the Buddha died may be ultimately found to the North of Bettiah, and in the line of the Açōka pillars which lead hither from Patna (Pāțaliputra)." Modern scholarship, based on archaeological evidence, believes that the Buddha died in Kushinagar (Uttar Pradesh).Rampurava lion capital
The lion pillar is inscribed with the Major Pillar Edicts of the Edicts of Ashoka, Pillar Edicts I, II, III, IV, V, VI.''Buddhist architecture, Huu Phuoc Le, Grafikol, 201p.36-40
/ref>
Rampurva bull capital
The Rampurva bull capital is noted as one of the seven remaining animal capital (architecture), capitals from the Pillars of Ashoka. It is composed of a List of plants known as lotus, lotiform base, with an abacus (architecture), abacus decorated with floral designs, and the realistic depiction of a zebu bull. The abacus in particular displays a strong influence of Greek art: it is composed of honeysuckles alternated with stylized palmettes and small rosette (design), rosettes. A similar kind of capital can be seen at the basis of the Sankassa elephant capital. A similar frieze is also visible on the Diamond throne built by Ashoka at Bodh Gaya. These design likely originated in Greek and Near-Eastern arts."Buddhist Architecture" by Huu Phuoc Le, Grafikol, 2010, p.4/ref> The bull is without inscriptions, presumably because its twin pillar, the Rampurava lion pillar already had them and therefore there was no need to repeat. It is thought that the bull symbol is not related to the bull Nandi (bull), Nandi of Hinduism, as Ashoka was quite eclectic in his choice of animals for his pillars anyway: lions, elephants, camels, geese, and horses are known.
See also
* Pillars of Ashoka * Edicts of Ashoka * Early Indian epigraphyReferences
{{reflist Monumental columns in India Indian inscriptions History of Bihar Mauryan art Archaeological sites in Bihar Sculptures from Bihar