Meera Dass “The Stambhas and Dvajas (Dedicatory Pillars to Gods) and Greek Presence in Central India

IA 2nd century B.C. pillar records the visit of a Greek ambassador sent by the Greek governor of the city of Taxila, today in Pakistan, to a local king in central India. Heliodoros, as he calls himself, was a devotee of the Buddhist faith and his own monument was a characteristic Buddist column erected within the multi-cultural religious landscape that in the time of the successors of Alexander the Great. had arisen along the principal roadways of India. Meera Dass is an architectural historian, based in Delhi, India, who has recently been appointed acting president of a board charged with the development of conservation plans for areas surrounding the more than 3,700 archaeological monuments listed by the Archaeological Survey of India.

The School would like to thank the Paul and Alexandra Canellopoulos Foundation for their generous support, and also Barry J. Jacobson for support of the Director’s series.