Ashokan Pillar, Lauria Areraj

This Lofty stone column erected by priyadarshee Lord Ashok in 249 BC in village Lauriya under Areraj subdivision is situated on the left side of Areraj – Bettiah road. The pillar, known as “Stambh dharma lekh”, which bears in well preserved and well cut letters six of his edicts, is a single block of polished sandstone, 36 ½ feet in height above the ground with a base diameter of 41.8 inches and a diameter at the top of 37.6 inches. The weight of this portion only is very nearly 34 tons, but as these must be several feet of the shaft sunk in the earth. The actual weight of the whole block must be about 40 tons. This pillar has no Capital. According to a report that pillar was crowned with a statue of an animal, but it was transferred to the Kolkata museum.
The edicts of king Ashoka are most clearly and heartily engraved, and are divided into two distinct portions, that to the worth containing 18 lines and that to the south 23 lines. But now these are not a good state of preservation and suffered from the effect of weather. The villages call the pillar as ‘Laur’ that is the phallus and the adjoining village is named after it Lauriya.
The Archaeological Survey of India has classified the Ashokan pillar as a protected monument.