and months, and the latter "always turns out to be Magha, which also gives it name to the Magh Mela", the bathing pilgrimage festival of the Hindus. Archaeological and geological surveys done since the 1950s, states Irwin, have revealed that the rivers – particularly Ganges – have a different course now than in distant past. The original path of river Ganges had settlements dating from 8th-century BCE onwards. This ancient path of the river placed the pillar more directly on the banks of the confluence. Further, east from the pillar is the remains of an ancient massive well (samudra-kup in early Sanskrit texts), in the direction of the remains of Pratisthan (now Jhusi). The Vasuki temple and Alarkapuri, which pilgrims visit after ritual bathing as a part of their traditional parikrama (circumambulation, Magha Mela walking circuit), are also ancient and consistent with early Sanskrit texts. According to Irwin, the pillar itself is pre-Buddhist, to which Ashoka added the Brahmi script inscription to advertise his edicts to the masses of pilgrims and the extant Buddhist monasteries there. He adds, "we also know with certainty that its original emblem had been – not a lion, as previously supposed – but the bull of pre-Buddhist, Brahmanical religion". According to Karel Werner – an Indologist known for his studies on religion particularly Buddhism, Irwin work "showed conclusively that the pillar did not originate at Kaushambi", but had been at Prayaga from pre-Buddhist time as a center of a very ancient pillar cult and that in fact, this was incorrectly attributed to Ashoka. Inscriptions When James Prinsep of the Asiatic Society came across the broken pillar just inside the gates of the Allahabad Fort in , its inscriptions were being eroded by the rain and sun. He remarked, There are three sets of inscriptions on the column from the three emperors, Ashoka Maurya, Samudragupta and Jahangir. They are accompanied by some minor inscriptions by pilgrims and others, which were derided as a mass of modern scribblings by Alexander Cunningham. Some of these are, however, dated and coupled with the style of scripts used, are useful to establish the periods when the pillar was in an erect position, and when it was lying prone on the ground. Ashoka inscriptions The Ashokan inscriptions on the Allahabad Pillar (along with inscriptions elsewhere) were pivotal to the decipherment of the Brahmi script by The Asiatic Society's James Prinsep. It