The Lion Capital, adopted as the State Emblem of India, comes from the Ashokan pillar at
- A.Lauriya Nandangarh
- B.Sarnath
- C.Rampurva
- D.Sanchi
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Sarnath. The capital of the Ashokan pillar at Sarnath carries four lions standing back to back on an abacus bearing four wheels and four animals, and it was adopted as the State Emblem of India on 26 January 1950. The wheel from the abacus is the chakra at the centre of the national flag, and the words satyameva jayate from the Mundaka Upanishad were added below the emblem.
Option A, Lauriya Nandangarh in Bihar, has an Ashokan pillar crowned by a single lion. Option C, Rampurva, also in Bihar, gave the famous bull capital now in Rashtrapati Bhavan. Option D, Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh, has a four lion capital of its own, which is why the option is tempting, but the emblem of India was taken from the Sarnath capital, now in the museum at the site.
Read the full article: Ancient Uttar Pradesh: Mahajanapadas and Buddhist Sites
Practice Questions
View allWhich of the following areas was known as Magadh in the ancient period?
- A.South of Ganga
- B.Between Ganga and Yamuna
- C.North of Ganga
- D.Between Yamuna and Chambal
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Magadha lay on the southern bank of the Ganga, in the region of present day Patna, Gaya and Nalanda, with its early capital at Rajagriha among the hills and later at Pataliputra at the meeting of the Ganga and the Son.
Read the full explanation →Kaushambi, near present day Prayagraj, was the capital of which mahajanapada?
- A.Kosala
- B.Vatsa
- C.Panchala
- D.Surasena
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The Vatsa mahajanapada lay in the Ganga and Yamuna doab with its capital at Kaushambi, and its best known ruler was Udayana, who appears in Sanskrit literature and in Buddhist texts alike.
Read the full explanation →The Buddha delivered his first sermon at which place?
- A.Bodh Gaya
- B.Sarnath
- C.Kushinagar
- D.Vaishali
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After his enlightenment the Buddha walked to the deer park at Sarnath near Varanasi and preached to the five ascetics who had been his companions.
Read the full explanation →The Buddha attained mahaparinirvana at which place in present day Uttar Pradesh?
- A.Shravasti
- B.Sankisa
- C.Kushinagar
- D.Kaushambi
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Kushinara, the Kushinagar of today in eastern Uttar Pradesh, was a town of the Malla mahajanapada, and the Buddha died there between two sal trees at the age of eighty, a death traditionally dated to 483 BCE and remembered as the mahaparinirvana.
Read the full explanation →Shravasti was the capital of which mahajanapada?
- A.Kashi
- B.Malla
- C.Kosala
- D.Chedi
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Kosala lay in the central and eastern plain of Uttar Pradesh with Shravasti as its capital and Saketa, the Ayodhya of today, as a second centre.
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