Vaishya Tekri/ Vaish Tekri

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Stupa

1938, and after

P.Naveen, August 13, 2026: The Times of India

Bhopal: Bigger than Sanchi. Older than two millennia. Born around Ashoka’s era, perhaps inspired by his wife Devi. A massive mound in Ujjain’s Vaishya Tekri kept its secrets buried since a 1938-39 excavation uncovered what an archaeological report called “perhaps the biggest known” Buddhist stupa, before work was halted after a gas leak left labourers unconscious.

Now, Madhya Pradesh is ready to dig again. CM Mohan Yadav is pushing the project and state govt is working with ASI to explore a fresh excavation.

The British-era report put the stupa at 350ft in diameter and at least 100ft high, dwarfing Sanchi’s 120ft diameter and 54ft height. It dated the structure to the Mauryan period, around 3rd century BCE, making it roughly 2,200 years old. Vaishya Tekri lies about 236km west of Sanchi.

Details

August 13, 2026: The Times of India

The report described Vaishya Tekri as a large circular mound ringed by a rectangular depression. Partial digging exposed the main stupa and remains of two smaller stupas. It was described as a “peculiar construction not met with anywhere else”. Archaeologists found unusually large bricks, some more than 22 inches long, along with a punch-marked coin and an Avanti coin. The finds backed a Mauryan-period date.

The report left open a tantalising possibility: the stupa could have been among those attributed to Emperor Ashoka, though no conclusive link was established.

ASI superintending archaeologist Shivakant Bajpai, who has been studying Ujjain’s archaeological landscape, said some records associate the monument with Ashoka’s time.

“It is believed that when Ashoka was governor of Ujjain, he had constructed a stupa at this site under the inspiration of his wife, Devi, who was the daughter of Nagarshreshthi (merchant chief) of Vidisha,” he said. “Therefore, this Buddhist site, established under the inspiration of a Vaishya’s daughter, came to be known as Vaisya Tekri over time.”

Vaishya Tekri has also been linked to Kanakgiri Vihara, mentioned in ancient Buddhist literature, and possibly to a massive stupa described by Chinese traveller, Hiuen Tsang, in his account of Ujjain. Both connections remain archaeologically unproven. A fresh excavation could separate fact from folklore. Ujjain divisional commissioner, Asheesh Singh, said: “We are working closely with state and central archaeological departments…”