Which Buddhist Stupa features a platform with ‘Aryak Pillars’?

Amaravati Stupa

UP PSC / UP PCS 2022 – Prelims – General Studies Paper I

Question: In which of the following stupas, the features of a platform with ‘Aryak-Pillars’ are found?

(a) Ghantshal

(b) Bodhgaya

(c) Nagarjunikonda

(d) Amaravati


प्रश्न: निम्नलिखित में से किस स्तूप में ‘आर्यक- स्तम्भ’ वाले मन्च की विशेषताएँ मिलती हैं?

(a) घण्टशाल

(b) बोधगया

(c) नागार्जुनीकोण्ड

(d) अमरावती


Answer: (d)

Explanation: Aryaka pillars are Buddhist pillars that are considered noble and are erected in the four cardinal directions of a Buddhist stupa. There are five Aryaka pillars, each corresponding to a significant event in the life of Siddhartha Gautama viz., the birth, the great renunciation, the enlightenment, the first sermon and the final extinction.

The Amaravati Stupa in Andhra Pradesh has a platform with “Aryak Pillars”. The Amaravati Stupa is one of the largest stupas in South India. It has a diameter of about 50 meters and a height of about 27 meters. The stupa was likely built in phases between the third and fourth centuries BCE.

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