The Ashoka Pillar or the Ashoka Stupa is the series of columns either in stone or in iron erected by the Mauryan king Ashoka during his reign in the 3rd century BC. Many of these pillars are almost 40 to 50 ft in height and upto 50 tons each. The pillars are found in Delhi (originally located at Meerut and Topra which was bought by Firuz Shah Tughlug in the year 1356), Allahabad (Which was at Kaushambi), Lauriya - Areraj, Lauriya - Nandangarh, Rampurva, Sankissa, Sanchi and Sarnath. There are pillars found with inscriptions in Lumbini and Nigalisagar. The pillar at Vaishali have one lion capital and the one at Rampurva have one bull capital.
The pillars were found to be carved out of either spotted red and white sand stone found in the region of Mathura, and the other is fine grained hard sand stonewith small black spots quarried in Chunnar near Varanasi.
All the pillars are uniform in style and have four parts. The shafts are plain and smooth and circular. The shaft tapers towards the top and are made of single piece of stone. The captials on top have the shape and appearance of a gently arched bell formed of lotus petals. The base are either square or circular in shape. The animals are either sitting or standing on the round chiseled single piece with abaci.
The most famous Ashoka Pillar is the pillar at Saranath which was eventually made the national emblem of India.