Allahabad Fort is located at a site which is nothing less than an antiquity. Apart from Zenana Mahal or the Queen’s Palace (pictured above) one also gets to see the mighty Akshayavat (the Undying Banyan Tree) and Ashokan Pillar from the 3rd century BCE inside the fortress. As per Hindu scriptures Akshayavat or Vat-Madhava is the abode of Lord Vishnu. It is worth mentioning that Ram, Lakshman and Sita are said to have rested beneath this tree.Interestingly, Buddhist traveler ‘Xuanzang’ (Hiuen Tsang) in his memoirs mentions a tree which was said to be the home of a man-eating demon.The Ashokan Pillar, originally from Kaushambi (an ancient Vedic and Buddhist city) has ancient inscriptions of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka, the Gupta Emperor Samudragupta written by Harisena, as well as that of the Mughal Emperor, Jahangir. The Persian inscription pertaining to Jahangir is attributed to Mir Abdullah Mushkin Qalam, and also mentions Birbal’s visit to the city in 1575.This pillar has a total of 13 edicts, including the schism edict and the Queen’s edict. The schism edict refers to internal matters of the monks and the Buddhist order (also found in the Sanchi and Sarnath pillars), whereas the latter talks about the charitable deeds of Karuvaki, the second queen of Ashoka and the mother of Tivara. The Queen’s edict says, “On the order of the Beloved of the Gods, the officers everywhere are to be instructed that whatever may be the gift of the second queen, whether a mango-grove, a monastery, an institution for dispensing charity or any other donation, it is to be counted to the credit of that queen… the second queen, the mother of Tivala, Karuvaki.”ALLAHABAD FORT, ALLAHABAD, UTTAR PRADESH Thought by ILF Expert Nilesh Narayan