Ruins of the Maya Devi Temple

In 1896, the Ashoka Column was found. Later, next to the column were discovered the ruins of a temple dedicated to the mother of the Buddha Queen Maya Devi, whose age archaeologists estimate about 2,500 years.

During the excavation of the temple, a stone bas-relief was discovered, which depicts Maya Devi and the infant Gautama standing on a lotus pedestal. Experts attribute the date of its creation to the 11-15 centuries. The column of Ashoka and the temple of Maya Devi are surrounded by the remains of various religious buildings - a large square stupa of the 2nd century AD and a group of 16 small stupas (8th-9th centuries), the sacred pool of Puskarni, in which, according to legend, Maya Devi performed ablution after the birth of the Buddha, and others. Near the Ashoka Column and the Maya Devi Temple are two Buddhist monasteries representing the two main schools of Buddhism: Mahayana and Theravada.