Lauria Nandangarh is a village about 14 km from Shikarpur

Shikarpur, India

Shikarpur is a town in Muzaffarnagar District, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is situated on the right bank of the Hindon River, with a railway station, 30 km SE., of the district capital Muzaffarnagar. Shikarpur had always been an important place, as it has historical importance, having a Fort and...

 and 24 km from Bettiah

Bettiah

Bettiah is the headquarters of West Champaran district in the state of Bihar, near the Indo-Nepal border, 225 Kilometres north-west of Patna. Bettiah, pronounced as 'Betiya', derived its name from 'baint'...

  in West Champaran district of Bihar

Bihar

Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....

 state in northern India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. Here there are interesting ruins of a huge stupa

Stupa

A stupa is a mound-like structure containing Buddhist relics, typically the remains of Buddha, used by Buddhists as a place of worship....

. It is a 26 metre high ancient brick sepulchral mound

Mound

A mound is a general term for an artificial heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. The most common use is in reference to natural earthen formation such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. The term may also be applied to any rounded area of topographically...

 thought to be the stupa where the ashes of Lord Buddha

Gautama Buddha

Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...

 were enshrined.

Less than half a kilometer from the village, stands the famous pillar of Ashoka

Ashoka

Ashok Maurya or Ashoka , popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from ca. 269 BC to 232 BC. One of India's greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over most of present-day India after a number of military conquests...

. It is a single block of polished sandstone

Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

 over 32 feet (10 m) high. The top is bell shaped with a circular abacus

Abacus

The abacus, also called a counting frame, is a calculating tool used primarily in parts of Asia for performing arithmetic processes. Today, abaci are often constructed as a bamboo frame with beads sliding on wires, but originally they were beans or stones moved in grooves in sand or on tablets of...

 ornamented with Brahmi

Brāhmī script

Brāhmī is the modern name given to the oldest members of the Brahmic family of scripts. The best-known Brāhmī inscriptions are the rock-cut edicts of Ashoka in north-central India, dated to the 3rd century BCE. These are traditionally considered to be early known examples of Brāhmī writing...

 geese supporting the statue of a lion.

The pillar is inscribed with the edict

Edict

An edict is an announcement of a law, often associated with monarchism. The Pope and various micronational leaders are currently the only persons who still issue edicts.-Notable edicts:...

of Ashoka in clear and beautifully cut characters. The lion has been chipped in the month and the column bears the mark of time just below the top which has itself been slightly dislodged.