Portion of a lion capital and a statue of Ganga, from Beshnagar, Bhopal State - 1875.

Photograph of a portion of a lion capital and a statue of Ganga, from Besnagar, taken by Joseph David Beglar in the 1870s. Besnagar is located at a fork between the rivers Betwa and Bes. It was a large city from the Mauryan period onwards which has been confirmed from the coins found at the site. A large number of sculptures have also been found there, and capitals of pillars are particularly common. In a report written at that time, A. Cunningham wrote, "Close by [one of the sites at near Beshnagar], in the house of a Sadhu, were found a small lion of the Gupta period and a large figure of the Ganges standing on her crocodile, which must certainly have belonged to a temple of the Gupta age. Both figures are in excellent condition."

Source : British Library