Lion Capital of Ashoka
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The Lion Capital of Ashoka is the capital, or head, of a column erected by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka in Sarnath, India, c. 250 BCE. Its crowning features are four life-sized lions set back to back on
Four Asiatic lions stand back to back on a circular abacus. The Buddhist wheel of the moral law appears in relief below each lion. Between the chakras appear four animals in profile—horse, bull, elephant, and lion. The architectural bell below the abacus is a stylized upside-down lotus.
The Dhamek Stupa in Sarnath, a watercolour by Abdullah, Shaikh, January 1814 (sketch); 1819 (colour)
The excavation site two years later
Capital in Sahni's Catalogue, 1914
State Emblem of India
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The State Emblem of India is the national emblem of the Republic of India and is used by the union government, many state governments, and other government agencies. The emblem is an adaptation of the
Lion Capital of Ashoka
…abacus be the model for the wheel in the centre of the Dominion of India's new national flag, and the capital itself without the lotus the model for the state emblem. The proposal was accepted in December 1947. Sarnath had a history of visits and some exploration in the 18th and 19th centuries. William Hodges, the…
The State Emblem atop the dome of Vidhana Soudha, seat of the state legislature of Karnataka
Emblem of the Vijayanagara Empire
Royal Seal (left) and Endscript seal (right) of Pratap Singh Bhosale, 8th and last Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire