An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s18.t3.25

v1.c9.s18.t3.25

The site of BESNAGAR, ancient Vidiśā, well-known for the Garuḍa pillar of Heliodoros, was excavated by the ASI in 1964-5 and subsequent years, giving a sequence of historical cultures from the PGW to the 2nd-3rd century A.D. However the excavation was carried out mainly to know more about the Garuḍa pillar and associated remains, if any. Pd I was Chalcolithic [4.14.5], but in its upper levels were encountered sherds of the PGW. The next Pd could be dated on the basis of NBPW and punch-marked coins. The remains of a temple with a superstructure of timber and a *pradakṣiṇā-patha* belonged to this Pd. In the next Pd, assigned to Śuṅga times, the temple was marked by a brick platform on a raised plinth. The Heliodoros pillar could be stratigraphically assigned to this Pd. Excavation revealed that there was a regular alignment of seven pits with the remains of pillar and capital fragments, thereby suggesting that the Heliodoros pillar was one of the seven in a row. The final Pd was characterized by Kṣatrapa coins.