This document summarizes important architectural and archaeological sites from the Mauryan Empire in India, which dates from 322-185 BCE. It discusses palaces like the remains in Pataliputra. It mentions Buddhist caves like the Barabar Caves and Nagarjuna Caves that contain Ashokan inscriptions. Stupas commissioned by Ashoka like the Great Stupa at Sanchi and Dhamekh Stupa at Sarnath are noted. It also summarizes the Pillars of Ashoka erected throughout India and Rock Edicts engraved by Ashoka expressing his conversion to Buddhism.

2.  Palaces
 Caves
 Stupas
 Pillars
 Rock Edicts

3. PALACES
Mauryan Palace In Bihar (Site of Mauryan Palace, Kumrahar, Patna)
The archaeological remains of ancient Pataliputra namely the Eighty pillared hall and
Arogya Vihar are located at Kumrahar.

4. CAVES
The Barabar Caves are the oldest surviving rock-cut caves in India [1], mostly dating
from the Mauryan period (322–185 BCE), and some with Ashokan inscriptions, located
in the Jehanabad District of Bihar, India, 24 km north of Gaya.
These caves are situated in the twin hills of Barabar (four caves).

5. Nagarjuna Caves is an important archeological site, located on the Nagarjuni Hills,
about 41 km from Bodhgaya and 36 km north of Gaya. It consists of three caves,
namely, Gopi Cave, Mirza Mandi and Vedathika Kubha. Buddhist religious
principles were practiced here.

6. STUPAS
The 'Great Stupa' at Sanchi was originally commissioned by the emperor
Ashoka the Great in the third century BCE. Its nucleus was a simple
hemispherical brick structure built over the relics of the Buddha. It was crowned
by the chatra, which was intended to honour and shelter the relics.

7. Dhamekh Stupa at Sarnath is one of the prominent Buddhist structures
in India. Dhamekh Stupa was constructed by the great Mauryan king,
Ashoka.
Dhamekh Stupa bears special significance at Sarnath as it signifies the
“seat of the holy Buddha”, as he proclaimed his faith.Buddhist pilgrims
belonging to different countries visit this place for circumambulation of
this sacred Stupa and to offer worship to Buddha.

8. The pillars of Ashoka are a series of columns dispersed throughout the northern Indian
subcontinent, erected or at least inscribed by the Mauryan king Ashoka during his reign in
the 3rd century BCE. Originally, there must have been many pillars but only nineteen
survive with inscriptions. Many are preserved in a fragmentary state. Averaging between
forty and fifty feet in height, and weighing up to fifty tons each, all the pillars were
quarried at Chunar, just south of Varanasi and dragged, sometimes hundreds of miles, to
where they were erected. Here, four lions are seated back to back.
PILLARS

9. The pillars of Ashoka bear inscriptions in Brahmi script. Alexander Cunningham was the
first to study the inscriptions on the pillars.
An Ashokan pillar across from a stupa at Kolhua,
near Vaishali, in Bihar

10. The Major Rock Edict, Ashoka's first rock inscription at Girnar, an example of
Brāhmī script.
ROCK EDICTS

11. Rock Edict of Ashoka
about 250 BC
Dhauli, near Bhubaneshvar
Dhauli is located in the ancient territory of Kalinga, now the state of Orissa, which the
emperor Ashoka (reigned 272-231 BC) conquered with appalling loss of life in about
260 BC. Thereafter the emperor repented of the violence which he had done, and
converted to Buddhism. He expressed his remorse, and his intention to govern the
kingdom according to the principles of his new faith, in a series of rock-cut edicts
which were inscribed on over 100 monuments throughout his vast kingdom.
The Dhauli monument is seen in this photo. Its sculpted elephant faces east. Ashoka's
inscription is cut into the north face of the rock, below the sculpture. The hill temples
in the background are modern: a white "peace" stupa built by the Japanese, and a
reconstructed Shiva temple.

12. MONASTERIES
A Buddhist monastery at Sanchi

13. PUNCH-MARK COINS
Silver punch mark coins of the Mauryan empire bear Buddhist symbols such as the
dharma chakara, the elephant and the tree under which the enlightenment
happened and the burial mound where the Buddha died.. 3rd century B.C