[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Reference works](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference) › [An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989) › v1.c17.s7 # An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c17.s7: 12.7 Pillars (Memorial) and Sati Stones An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c17.s7 - **Language:** English ### 12.7 Pillars (Memorial) and Sati Stones ### [v1.c17.s7.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c17.s7.1) Hero-stones, \*chāyā stambhas\* or memorial columns, are mostly free-standing stone columns, although at NAGARJUNAKONDA a few of them might have stood close to some pillared hall or the other, possibly a wayside rest house \[cf. 12.3.1\]. At that place they are generally tetragonal in section and are invariably inscribed and carved. They were erected to commemorate the death of some important personage and came to be known as \*chāyā\* (image)-\*stambhas\* as they provided veritable images of the life and activities of the hero. Apart from their high artistic attainment, the \*chāyā-stambhas\* provide interesting evidence on the social and cultural history of s. India almost up to the present times. ### [v1.c17.s7.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c17.s7.2) One of the earliest \*chāyā-stambhas\* in the country is the one from Andhau, Dt Kutch, which is the memorial of a Kṣatrapa king of the 1st century A.D. Amongst the other examples mention may be made of those from Salad and Mulwasar, also in Gujarat, but the word used for \*chāyā-stambhas\* in these Kṣatrapa inscriptions is \*sita-laṣṭi\*, \*silāyaṣṭi\* or only \*yaṣṭi\*. C. India appears to have been an intermediary in the dispersal of the \*chāyā-stambha\* tradition from Gujarat to s. India as is attested to by the discovery of a memorial pillar at PAUNI, Dt Bhandara, datable to the 2nd century. ### [v1.c17.s7.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c17.s7.3) Of the examples from the s. those from NAGARJUNAKONDA datable to the 3rd century A.D. are undoubtedly the earliest. These were raised during the rule of the Ikṣvākus, but most of them are damaged and the inscriptions thereon very much defaced. However there is sufficient evidence to show that \*chāyā-stambhas\* were raised not only for kings, queens, generals or soldiers but also for religious teachers and famous artisans. ### [v1.c17.s7.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c17.s7.4) In recent years innumerable hero-stones have been discovered from Chengam Taluka of Dt N. Arcot, though none of them is earlier than the reign of the Pallava king Siṁhaviṣṇu who possibly ascended the throne in 536-7. Even though \*chāyā-stambhas\* have a high concentration in the Chengam area they are distributed over peninsular India and the tradition seems to have continued till the recent times. ### [v1.c17.s7.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c17.s7.5) The earliest example of \*satī\* (\*satī\*-stones being abundant in later times) seems to be a stone sculpture of a lady against a ladder, as if jumping into fire, found in ### [v1.c17.s7.6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c17.s7.6) Agrawala, V.S., 1936, in \*Jour. U P. Hist. Soc.\*, 9 (for Mathura); 1947-8, in \*AI\*, 4 (for Ahicchatrā). Banerjea, J.N., 1956. \*Development of Hindu Iconography\*, Calcutta. Coomaraswamy, A.K., in \*Mārg\*, 6 (for archaic terracottas). Desai, D., 1975, \*Erotic Sculpture of India, a Socio-cultural Study\*, New Delhi; in \*Proc. 2nd Symposium of the International Association of Prehistoric & Ethnographic Religions\*, Calcutta (in press). Dhavalikar, M.K., 1965, in \*Anthropos\*, 60 (for eye goddess and their w. Asian parallels). Gordon, D.H., 1937, in \*Antiquity\*, 11 (for Gandhāra); 1943, in \*Jour. Indian Soc. of Oriental Art\*, 11 (for early Indian terracottas). Gupta, J., 1967, in \*Gopinath Kaviraj Abhinandan Granth\*, Lucknow (for Balidevi). Johnstone, E.H., 1942, in \*Jour. Indian Soc. Oriental Art\* (for a terracotta figure in Oxford). ### [v1.c17.s7.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c17.s7.7) the cremation ground at NAGARJUNAKONDA (\*IAR\* 1958-9, p. 8). Another early example is provided by the ERAN stone pillar inscription of A.D. 510 which records that a chief called Goparāja was killed in battle and his wife became a \*satī\* (Sircar, 1965, p. 345). \*Satī\* memorials take a different form in the late historical levels at some sites, such as AHICCHATRA, where thin terracotta plaques produced out of shallow moulds show a male and female side by side. These plaques have been called \*sattī-sattā\*, a term used in Bundelkhand where they are abundantly found. Of the 37 pieces of AHICCHATRĀ 34 are firmly dated to 9th-11th centuries (Agrawala, 1947-8, p. 178). ### [v1.c17.s7.8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c17.s7.8) Stone sculptures depicting human beings committing self-immolation are plentiful in the s. and numerous examples exist in the museums of Hyderabad. Hero-stones commemorating the death of persons showing bravery, known in the s. as \*virakkal\*, are scattered all over the peninsula. ### [v1.c17.s7.9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c17.s7.9) Agrawala, V.S., 1947-8, in \*AI\*, 4 Nagaswamy, R., ed., 1947, \*Seminar on Hero-stones\*, Tamil Nadu Sarkar, H , & Misra, B.N., 1979, \*Nagarjunakonda\*, New Delhi Sircar, D.C., 1965, \*Select Inscriptions\*, Calcutta —H. SARKAR ## Linked texts (3) - [Ahicchatra](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.ahichchhatra) - [Nāgārjunakoṇḍa](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.nagarjunakonda) - [Pauni](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.pauni) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c17.s7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c17.s7) · Pramāṇa