Ashoka’s Rock Edicts,on the road from Junagadh to Girnar Taleti stands a huge boulder, protected in a small building – this is the site of Ashoka’s Major Rock Edicts. Fourteen edicts, carved in Brahmi script in a Prakrit language, record Emperor Ashoka’s messages about dhamma: rejecting greed and animal sacrifice, and encouraging compassion, moral living and religious tolerance. Panels nearby often explain the text in modern languages, making it a powerful stop for history and UPSC-oriented travellers. The location also has later inscriptions by Saka ruler Rudradaman I and Gupta emperor Skandagupta, all on the same rock – so you literally see 600+ years of history in one place.
About this place
History & highlights
The Ashokan edicts here date to around 250 BCE, making them the earliest written records of Junagadh’s history. Centuries later, around 150 CE, Western Kshatrapa ruler Rudradaman I added a famous Sanskrit inscription praising his repairs to the nearby Sudarshan Lake; in the 5th century, Skandagupta recorded a further restoration after floods. Today the rock, managed by the Archaeological Survey of India, is part of a proposed UNESCO serial nomination of Ashokan edict sites across India.
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