🇮🇳 India · Ancient city
Besnagar
Mauryan–Sunga–Satavahana–Gupta 600 BCE–500 CE · Magadhan → Sunga → Satavahana → Gupta
Ancient Vesanagara city mound at Betwa-Bes confluence — Sunga–Satavahana twin capital of Vidisha (600 BCE–500 CE).
🇮🇳 India · Archaeological wonder
Heliodorus Pillar
Late Sunga (Indo-Greek–Sunga contact) c.125–75 BCE · Indo-Greek (Taxila) → Sunga (Vidisha)
Indo-Greek Garuda pillar 113 BCE — Heliodorus dedication to Vasudeva (earliest Greek Hindu inscription).
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Bharhut
Sunga → early Satavahana (Shunga art) 150–75 BCE · Sunga (Dhanabhuti lineage)
Great Sunga stupa 150–75 BCE — 11 m vedika with toranas, Jataka-labelled reliefs and yakshi pillars (Cunningham).
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Sonari
Mauryan 3rd c BCE → Sunga 2nd c BCE → Gupta 5th c · Mauryan Buddhist sangha → Sunga
Sanchi mandala outlier 10 km SW — 8 stupas (Stupa 2 relic casket, Brahmi) on Betwa ridge.
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Vidisha (Besnagar) and Heliodorus Pillar
Maurya 3 c. BCE → Sunga 187–78 BCE → Gupta 4–6 c. CE · Maurya → Sunga → Indo-Greek → Gupta (Malwa)
Ancient Vidisha (Besnagar) capital with Heliodorus Garuda column (113 BCE) — first Indo-Greek Krishna inscription 6.5 m monolith.
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Deorkothar
Maurya 3 c. BCE → Sunga 2–1 c. BCE → Gupta 4–6 c. CE · Maurya → Sunga Buddhist (Ashokan sphere)
Four-stupa Mauryan–Sunga Buddhist hilltop complex (3 c. BCE–6 c. CE) on Vindhyan escarpment between Rewa and Prayag.
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Bharhut Satna Stupa
Mauryan Ashoka → Sunga 3rd–1st c BCE · Sunga Buddhist Hinayana — early narrative sculpture
Bharhut Satna Stupa — Sunga–Satavahana Buddhist stupa (3rd c BCE Ashokan nucleus, 2nd c BCE Sunga rail decoration) at Bharhut 15 km Satna, discovered 1873 by Cunningham with 40 ft stupa, red…
🇮🇳 India · Ancient temple
Heliodorus Garuda Pillar
Sunga 2nd c BCE Indo-Greek diplomatic · Sunga–Indo-Greek — Bhagavata Garuda cult
Heliodorus Garuda Pillar — 6.4-m Garuda-column erected c.150–113 BCE by Heliodorus, Greek ambassador of Indo-Greek king Antialcidas to Sunga king Bhagabhadra, as Garuda-dhvaja before Vasudeva…
🇮🇳 India · Ancient city
Besnagar Vidisha Ancient City
Mauryan → Sunga–Satavahana 3rd c BCE–5th c CE · Sunga–Satavahana Vidisha — Early Historic Central India
Besnagar Vidisha Ancient City — capital of Dasharna janapada and Sunga Sungabhadra (3rd c BCE–5th c CE) on Betwa-Bes confluence 3 km north of Vidisha, excavated 1913–15 by Marshall–Lake and 1963–64…
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Great Stupa at Sanchi
Maurya to Gupta 3rd century BCE–12th century CE (great stupa 260 BCE, gateways 25 BCE–50 CE) · Maurya / Sunga / Satavahana / Gupta Buddhist
Earliest stone Buddhist stupa (Maurya 3rd c BCE, enlarged Sunga 1st c BCE–1st c CE) crowning hilltop at Sanchi, 36.5 m diameter hemispheric brick-and-stone dome encasing relics.