Paharpur is a small village 5 km. west of Jamalganj in the greater Rajshahi district where the remains of the most important and the largest known monastery south of the Himalayas have been excavated. This 7th century archaeological find covers approximately an area of 27 acres of land. The entire establishment, occupying a quadrangular court, measuring more than 900 ft. and from 12 ft, to 15 in height. With elaborate gateway complex on the north, there are 45 cells on the north and 44 in each of the other three sides with a total number of 177 rooms. The architecture of the pyramidal cruciform temple is profoundly influenced by those of South-East Asia, especially Myanmar and Java. It had taken its name from a high mound, which looked like pahar or hillock. A site museum built recently houses the representative collection of objects recovered from the area. The excavated findings have also been preserved at the Varendra Research Museum at Rajshahi. The antiquities of the museum include terracotta plaques, images of different gods and goddess', potteries, coin inscriptions, ornamental bircks and other minor clay objects

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it's like egypt meets the aztecs...

interesting photos ;)

The Oldest University in Asia, Terra Cotta Remains

At Paharpur some terra-cotta seals bearing the name of the vice chancellor, Sri Somepure, a member of the second ruler of the Pala dynasty, of the oldest university in Asia named as "Somapura Buddha Vihara Viswabidyalaya" (Khatun, 1997). The University used to teach theology, grammar, logic, philosophy, fine arts and visited by famous scholars. The residential university enrolled students free of costs and their clothing and food were also free. About one hundred adjacent villages supplied food and clothing for about 2,000 students living in 177 rooms in a 21 acre fortified complex area. Students from south-east Asian countries like Korea, Mongolia, China and Tibet came here to receive the superior quality of education provided by this University. The books preserved in the library were made of parchment paper and palm leaves. But the library was looted and ravaged after the fall of the Pala dynasty (M. Khatun, 1997).

Source Link (http://www.sos-arsenic.net/english/pottery/#2)

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http://www.mykreeve.net/eastern_himalaya/bangladesh/paharpur/paharpur_monastery_ground.jpg http://www.mykreeve.net/eastern_himalaya/bangladesh/paharpur/grasscutter_paharpur.jpg

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Wowww.... you guys are great. How come some pictures are not loading on my computer. This has happened in a few other pages. Did they pull out some pictures?

The excavation site is located about 12km North of Mahasthangarh, one of the oldest cites of Bangladesh.

http://www.ittefaq.com/get.php?d=07/02/16/w/n_zzryvx

1. As I didn't find any thread for a general historic sites of Bangladesh or a dedicated thread for Mahasthangarh, I am adding to this thread. If anybody thinks that this post should be moved to a different thread, let me know please.

2. If someone finds a link to an english language news source for this, please add that too.

http://www.ittefaq.com/data/up/07/02/16/81976_1.jpg

A nice article about Mahasthangarh site is available here:

http://www.ambafrance-bd.org/article-imprim.php3?id_article=367

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Paharpur

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^^ Though what survives is impressive in its own right...imagine how it used to be...none of the outer walls survive today...what we see are the ruins of the inner core...originally this cruciform temple stood about twice the height of what remains.

Really wonderful pictures are avilable in this forum, thank you all for these collections.

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This complex is similar but much smaller in scale to places like Siem Reap in Cambodia, Borobudur in Java and Angkor Wat.

The basic idea is the same, massive central stupa surrounded by smaller and more and more numerous stupas.

I think the pillars and roof-joists used to be made of some kind of stone until they were destroyed and hauled off by marauders to make mosques or other construction project.

This complex is similar but much smaller in scale to places like Siem Reap in Cambodia, Borobudur in Java and Angkor Wat.

The basic idea is the same, massive central stupa surrounded by smaller and more and more numerous stupas.

I think the pillars and roof-joists used to be made of some kind of stone until they were destroyed and hauled off by marauders to make mosques or other construction project.

yes they are bigger in size but Paharpur monastery is much older than those and more importantly Buddhism spread to south-east asia via bengal, so is the architecture, its not the reverse way. and its not the whole monastery, only it's ruins, i think people would have been surprised to see its actual size. how could have you become so sure that the stones have been used for mosques? we should not assume anything without significant proof. And you didnt mention the massacre done by Hindu sen dynasty to Buddhist monks and the buddhist civilization, which led to a pathetic end of buddhism in bengal.