Saru Maru is the archaeological site of an ancient monastic complex and

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

caves. The site is located near the village of Pangoraria, Budhani Tehsil,

Sehore District Sehore District () is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The town of Sehore is the district headquarters. The district is part of Bhopal Division. Geography Sehore is 37 km from the state capital,Sehore is situated on t ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

.Gupta, The Origins of Indian Art, p.196Archaeological Survey of India
/ref> The site is about 120 km south of

Sanchi Sanchi Stupa is a Buddhist art, Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the States and territories of India, State of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located, about 23 kilometers from Raisen ...

Description

The site contains a number of stupas as well as natural caves for monks. In the caves many Buddhist graffiti have been found (

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...

, triratna,

kalasa Kalasa is a taluk located in Chikmagalur district in Karnataka. Kalasa is home to the Kalaseshwara Temple dedicated to Shiva. Kalasa lies 92 Kilometres West of Chickmagalur and is located on the banks of the Bhadra River. Kannada language is s ...

...). In the main cave were found two inscriptions of

Ashoka Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was List of Mauryan emperors, Emperor of Magadha from until #Death, his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynast ...

: a version of the Minor Rock Edict n°1, one of the

Edicts of Ashoka The Edicts of Ashoka are a collection of more than thirty inscriptions on the Pillars of Ashoka, as well as boulders and cave walls, attributed to Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire who ruled most of the Indian subcontinent from 268 BCE to 2 ...

, and another inscription mentioning the visit of Piyadasi (honorific name used by

in his inscriptions) as ''Maharahakumara'' (Prince). According to the inscription, it would seem that

visited this Buddhist monastic complex while he was still a prince, and viceroy of the region of

, while his residence was to be at

Vidisha Vidisha (विदिशा, formerly known as Bhelsa and known as Besnagar and Bhaddilpur in ancient times) is a city in Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of Vidisha district. It is located 62.5 km north ...

. In the Buddhist tradition, Ashoka's wife was called Vidishadevi. File:Saru Maru small stupas.jpg, Small stupas on the hill of Saru Maru. File:Saru-Maru Ashoka inscription.jpg, An inscription of Ashoka in one of the Saru Maru caves. It is a portion of Minor Rock Edict No.1. File:012092021 3rd century BCE Saru Maru Panguraria Buddhist site, Madhya Pradesh 151.jpg, View of the Minor Edicts in-situ

Full commemorative inscription

References

External links

ASI Saru Maru page
{{Commons category, Saru Maru Caves of Madhya Pradesh Buddhist monasteries in India Buddhist caves in Madhya Pradesh Rock-cut architecture of India Former populated places in India Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India Stupas in India Architecture in India Caves containing pictograms in India Sehore district