Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Archaeology Department of the Madhya Pradesh Government may soon shift the Mauryan Era (325-181 BCE) pillar located in the Bagh Umrao Dulha locality in the Old City to the State Museum or a spacious park for its proper conservation. The ancient pillar presently stands in the middle of a busy and narrow road, surrounded by shops and homes.
It is in a pathetic condition with dents and cracks in its body and a wire wound around it from the bottom to the top. Dust covers its surface and a small, raised stone platform at its base is used by the local residents to sit and gossip. The 20-foot tall pillar has iron hooks fixed near its top and its top is an inverted lotus and a leaf capital.
The pillar was uprooted from somewhere in the state and brought to the city on the orders of Shahjehan Begum, the ruler of Bhopal, around 1880. It was installed in the middle of a garden, as the name of the locality Bagh (Persian for garden) Umarao Dulha suggests. It is perhaps the third oldest archaeological monument in Madhya Pradesh, after the Bhimbetka rock shelters and the Sanchi Stupas.
According to archaeologist from the department Ashutosh Uprit, efforts to relocate the pillar have failed in the past due to resistance by the local residents, who see the pillar as a pride of their locality and a gift of the Nawab to them. About two years back, formal orders were issued to the district collector for relocating it but it could not be done.
“We are in touch with some sensible and influential residents of the area and have convinced them that shifting the pillar would be the best course. We told them that any day a vehicle may hit the base of the pillar, bringing it down,” Uprit said, adding that the directorate plans to move it either to the State Museum or to an open space, where it can be properly fenced and preserved.
