ASHOKA STAMBH
Ashoka Stambh, The National Emblem of India is adopted in 1950 and used by all central, state and other government agencies of India. It is adapted from Ashoka Stambh [an ancient sculpture, built dated 280 BC, by the Great Mauryan Empire Samrat Ashok. The monument is located at Sarnath, Utter Pradesh. It took 20 years to complete it. It is built to memorialize the Dharma chakra parivartan or the first sermon of Buddha. The structure has a base of a lotus flower, a drum on it, on which four animals are curved, representing four directions like an Ox [east], a Horse [west], a Lion [north], and an Elephant [south]. A row of Geese signifies knowledge and fight of goose is supposed to be a link between the earthly and heavenly spheres. The Chakras can be understood as a moving cycle towards a promise of the eightfold enlightened path. The first spokes represent 12 stages of suffering and next 12 spokes represent no cause, no effect. Four lions are
