Heliodorus Pillar

This is one of the highlights of ancient India. We have seen Hindu's subjected to coerced conversion but here the Greek ambassador visiting India got influenced and converted to Hinduism. There was a grand Vishnu temple need to dig more to find out what happened to it. The remains can be seen nearby.

Very ancient old site belongs to 150 years BCE. This pillar is very unique and made by Greek ambassador heliodorus during the reign of shung dynasty of king bhahbhadra. Approach road is very good and near to vidisha city. Well maintained by ASI. Overall great place from point of history.

The place has great historical value.but even the local people did not know the direction of the place.you have to take the help of Google map.

(Visited in September 2019) - On the banks of River Betwa, there exists this small & simple pillar with a glorious past. c.2150/2160 years ago, Heliodorus was a Greek ambassador of Indo Bactrain King Antialchus to the court of the Sunga Emperor Bhagabhadra. In due course of time, Heliodorus became an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu and proclaimed himself as a devotee of Lord Vishnu i.e, Bhagavata. As per the Prakrit Brahmi Inscription on this pillar, it was built by Heliodorus as a Garuda Column in honour of Lord Vasudeva in c.150 BCE. Today, the pillar is also called as Khambaba locally and is venerated by the fisherfolk community. The place is humble & unassuming, but awesome!

A historical monument popularly known as Khamb baba. One of the very few monuments depicting Greek presence in India. The main structure is in a ruinous condition and only a Standing Pillar remains.

This is an Ashoka Pillar from Ashokas period. It's having a remarkable history in Buddhism.

Heliodorus pillar is situated in Vidisha(MP) approximately 7-8 km from udaigiri caves
It was erected around 150 BC by Heliodorus (ambassador of Greek Antialcidis, Taxila's king) 150BC during the era of Bhag Bhadra (9th emperor of Shunga Dynasty)
It is one of the earliest known inscription related to vaishnav(Hinduism) religion,
Nowadays Dheemar people describe this pillar as 'khamb Baba' and also they worship this pillar.

The story of Heleodorus, a Greek who came to India for knowledge and impressed by the Bhagwat culture named himself as Bhagwat and commissioned this piller inscribed in Brahmi script during the region of King Brhambhatta 2300 years ago is truly fascinating. The piller in itself might not be grand compared to other monuments nearby but is fascinating nonetheless.

It was long lost to time and became a subject of devotion for local fishermen communities which addressed it as Khamb baba. It was restored in 1922 and is now well maintained.

Love to know our history. Bot most of it is destroyed by Aurangzeb. One of the most hated ruller who destroyed Indian culture and history.

An interesting testimony to ancient history and the importance of Vidisha as it is thought to be constructed by an ambassador of an Indo-Greek King of Taxila to embody his faith in Vaishnavism. A record of early Vaishnavism. Besides the pillar, under a tree are several stones pieces with engraving. Please also notice nails in the trunk of same tree thought to symbolise a local ritual.

It's located just near to famous Udaigiri caves, it's visible from boundary wall.

Lucky I am that I marked this on the map or else I would have missed this historic piece.

It was a good experience to see the pillar which shows the earliest conversion of a foreign ambassador 'Heliodorus' to vaishnav sect.
It will surely generate excitement within the Art n History loving people

What a rich history.... It marks site of temple of 4th century B.C. in front of which the visiting Greek scholar built a pillar with Garuda as tribute

Good to see this place. I like that place it's very near by Vidisha also Udaigiri Cave. Local people call that place Khambaba.

Do spare 15-20 minutes for this monument, if you visit the Udaigiri Caves. The pillar, erected in front of a temple by Heliodorus, bears Greek style. Many persons still worship it.

The approximate date of the column is 150BC. When I visited the place, I felt that I have indeed travelled back in time. It is not a very touristy spot, the typical crowd of hawkers, guides etc that mill around in a tourist spot are missing here. Along with with us there were a couple of sightseers, otherwise it was empty. In one corner of the fenced plot that houses this column, three guys who looked as they were caretakers or in some way related to this place were busy with in some manual work.

This is a Garud Dwaja (Garud Pillar) dedicated to Vasudeva. The dedication was made by Indo-Greek Ambassador Heliodoros s/o Dios from Taxila Indo-Greek King Antialkidas in the court of Indian King Kasiputra Bhagbhadra. The Pillar gives us glimpse of Shunga period political setup. The script is Brahmi and Language is Sanskritized Prakrit. The Inscription also has a Sloka from Mahabharata.

This is a monument of importance but not very visible.
People need to be educated about our history & importance of such places need to be highlighted.

It was installed by Heliodorus who was the representative of Takshasila ruler Antiodorus to Shunga dynasty. It is located in front of Vasudeva Temple. It indicates the presence of Indo Greeks in NW India. It was installed here around 90BC.