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Vidisha or Besnagar as it is called in the pali sculptures, once the prosperous capital of the western dominions of the Sungas, contains some remarkable antiquites that throw light on the considerable architectural development of the period.

Situated in the fork of the Betwa and Bes rivers, Vidisha, 10 km from Sanchi, occupies an important place amonst the ancient cities in India. In the 6th and 5th centuries BC, it rose to become an important trade contre and a bustling city under the Sungas, Nagas, Satvahanas and Guptas. The Emperor Ashoka was governor of Vidisha and it finds mention in Kalidasa's immortal Meghdoor. Deserted after the 6th century AD it came into prominence again as Bhilsa during the medieval period (9th to 12 th centuries AD) . It later passed on to the Malwa Sultans, the Mughals, and the Scindias.

The ruins of a Brahmanical shrine at Vidisha dedicated to Vishnu reveal that the foundation bricks were cemented together with lime mortar, the first known example of the use of cement in India. The ruins are what remains of possible the oldest known Brahmanical stone structure, dated not later than 2 BC.

Vidsha museum has a superb collection of Besnagar's earliest antiquities, dating from the Sunga period; 9th century sculptures, and terracotta objects, representing the art that flourished under parmara patronage, are also well represented here. Highlights of the collection from Besnagar are the Surya and Chamudi figures, the Yakshi and the Ramagupta inscriptions.

The Lohangi Rock, gumbaz-ka-Maqbara and Bijamandal Mosque, standing on the foundations of a temple, are also worth a visit.

Close to the ruins are the remains of votive pillars with palm-leaf capitals; the only one the still stands in the Heliodorus pillar, also known as khambha Baba. A monolithic, free-standing column, the Pillar bears an inscription which states that it was a Garuda Pillar, raised in honour of Vasudeva by Heliodorus, a resident of Taxila, who had been sent to the court of Bhagabhadra as an evnoy of the Indo-Bactrian monarch, Antialkidas. This inscription is a particularly valuable historical record, revealing both the relations that existed between the region and the Greek kingdoms of thd Punjab, and the remarkable fact that a Greek had become a follower of the Hindu god Vishnu. The inclusion of the name of Antialkidas dates the approximate erection of the pillar to 140 BC.

Architecturally, the Pillar, with its bell capital carrying a figured super-structure, resembles the Ashoka Pillar, but is much smaller in size with more slender proportions. The lower portion of the shaft is octagonal, the upper, sixteen-sided, with a panel above of thirty-two facets. The carvings have Buddhist motifs such as a border with geese in pairs as well as Hellenic ones such as the honeysuckle and the bead moulding

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Bhopal : Vidisha