Udayagiri Caves

Heliodorus pillar

A Greek ambassador put up this column around 113 BCE: Heliodorus, sent by the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas of Taxila to the ruler Bhagabhadra, who had a Brahmi dedication cut into it to Vasudeva, the God of Gods. That inscription is among the earliest archaeological evidence anywhere of Krishna devotion, which is a heavy claim for one weathered shaft standing near the meeting of two rivers at Besnagar. Cunningham found it in 1877, and later excavations showed it belonged to a Vasudeva temple site. It is 11 kilometres from Sanchi and 4 from Udayagiri, so fold it into that day rather than making a trip of it.