Bikrampur Vihara is an ancient Buddhist vihara at Raghurampur village, Bikrampur, Munshiganj District, Dhaka division in Bangladesh. [1]
Bikrampur Vihara is an ancient Buddhist vihara at Raghurampur village, Bikrampur, Munshiganj District, Dhaka division in Bangladesh. [1]
The monastery is located at Raghurampur village under Rampal Union of Sadar Upazila of Munshiganj District .
The discovery was announced on 23 March 2013, after four years of excavation conducted jointly by Agrasar Bikrampur Foundation, a local sociocultural organisation, and the Archaeology Department of Jahangirnagar University. The excavation was financed by Bangladesh's Ministry of Cultural Affairs.
On 23 March 2013, Director of the Archaeological Excavation and Research in Bikrampur region, declared the discovery of this 1000-year-old Buddhist Vihara. Over 100 precious idols and sculptures have been found till March, 2013.
This is one of the thirty viharas built by Emperor Dharmapala during his regime c. 820 as the second emperor of the Pala Empire. It is connected to Atiśa, an important figure in Tibetan Buddhism. During the time of Atiśa, this region was the center of Buddhist education and some 8,000 students and professors came to study at Bikrampur from as far as China, Tibet, Nepal and Thailand. [2] [3] [4]
Five rooms of the monks sized 3.5 by 3.5 metres (11 ft × 11 ft) have been excavated so far. The exact size of the monastery, however, could not be assumed yet.
Atīśa was a Buddhist religious leader and master from Bengal. He is generally associated with his work carried out at the Vikramashila monastery in Bihar. He was one of the major figures in the spread of 11th-century Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism in Asia and inspired Buddhist thought from Tibet to Sumatra. He is recognised as one of the greatest figures of medieval Buddhism. Atiśa's chief disciple, Dromtön, was the founder of the Kadam school, one of the New Translation schools of Tibetan Buddhism, later supplanted by the Gelug tradition in the 14th century which adopted its teachings and absorbed its monasteries.
Nalanda was a renowned mahavihara in ancient Magadha, eastern India. Considered by historians to be the world's first residential university and among the greatest centers of learning in the ancient world, it was located near the city of Rajagriha and about 90 kilometres (56 mi) southeast of Pataliputra. Operating from 427 until 1197 CE, Nalanda played a vital role in promoting the patronage of arts and academics during the 5th and 6th century CE, a period that has since been described as the "Golden Age of India" by scholars.
Comilla District, officially known as Cumilla District, is a district of Bangladesh located about 100 kilometres south east of Dhaka. Comilla is bordered by Brahmanbaria and Narayanganj districts to the north, Noakhali and Feni districts to the south, Tripura of India to the east and Munshiganj and Chandpur districts to the west. Comilla district is located in the southeastern part of Bangladesh.
Vihāra generally refers to a Buddhist monastery for Buddhist renunciates, mostly in the Indian subcontinent. The concept is ancient and in early Sanskrit and Pali texts, it meant any arrangement of space or facilities for dwellings. The term evolved into an architectural concept wherein it refers to living quarters for monks with an open shared space or courtyard, particularly in Buddhism. The term is also found in Ajivika, Hindu and Jain monastic literature, usually referring to temporary refuge for wandering monks or nuns during the annual Indian monsoons. In modern Jainism, the monks continue to wander from town to town except during the rainy season (Chaturmas), and the term "vihara" refers to their wanderings.
Buddhism is the third-largest religious affiliation and formed about 0.63% of the population of Bangladesh. It is said that Buddha once in his life came to this region of East Bengal to spread his teachings and he was successful in converting the local people to Buddhism, specially in the Chittagong division and later on Pala empire propagate and patronized Buddhist religion throughout the Bengal territory. About 1 million people in Bangladesh adhere to the Theravada school of Buddhism. Over 65% of the Buddhist population is concentrated in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region, where it is the predominant faith of the Rakhine, Chakma, Marma, Tanchangya, other Jumma people and the Barua. The remaining 35% are Bengali Buddhists. Buddhist communities are present in the urban centers of Bangladesh, particularly Chittagong and Dhaka.
Mahasthangarh is one of the earliest urban archaeological sites discovered thus far in Bangladesh. The village Mahasthan in Shibganj upazila of Bogra District contains the remains of an ancient city which was called Pundranagara or Paundravardhanapura in the territory of Pundravardhana. A limestone slab bearing six lines in Prakrit in Brahmi script recording a land grant, discovered in 1931, dates Mahasthangarh to at least the 3rd century BCE. It was an important city under the Maurya Empire. The fortified area was in use until the 8th century CE.
Munshiganj, also historically and colloquially known as Bikrampur, is a district in central Bangladesh. It is a part of the Dhaka Division and borders Dhaka District.
Bikrampur was a pargana situated 19 kilometres (12 mi) south of Dhaka, the modern capital city of Bangladesh. In the present day, it is known as the Munshiganj District of Bangladesh. It is a historic region in Bengal and was a part of the Bhawal Estate.
Somapura Mahavihara or Paharpur Buddhist Vihara in Paharpur, Badalgachhi, Naogaon, Bangladesh is among the best known Buddhist viharas or monasteries in the Indian Subcontinent and is one of the most important archaeological sites in the country. It was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. It is one of the most famous examples of architecture in pre-Islamic Bangladesh. It dates from a period to the nearby Halud Vihara and to the Sitakot Vihara in Nawabganj Upazila of Dinajpur District.
Samataṭa was an ancient geopolitical division of Bengal in the eastern Indian subcontinent. The Greco-Roman account of Sounagoura is linked to the kingdom of Samatata. Its territory corresponded to much of present-day eastern Bangladesh and parts of the Rakhine State of Myanmar. The area covers the trans-Meghna part of the Bengal delta. It was a center of Buddhist civilisation before the resurgence of Hinduism and Muslim conquest in the region.
Jagaddala Mahavihara was a Buddhist monastery and seat of learning in Varendra, a geographical unit in present north Bengal in Bangladesh. It was founded by the later kings of the Pāla dynasty, probably Ramapala, most likely at a site near the present village of Jagdal in Dhamoirhat Upazila in the north-west Bangladesh on the border with India, near Paharapur. Some texts also spell the name Jaggadala.
Lalitagiri is a major Buddhist complex in the Indian state of Odisha. The complex is home to stupas, 'esoteric' Buddha images, and monasteries (viharas), which is the oldest site in the region. Significant finds at this complex include Buddha's relics. Tantric Buddhism was practiced at this site.
Architecture of Bangladesh is intertwined with the architecture of the Bengal region and the broader Indian subcontinent. The architecture of Bangladesh has a long history and is rooted in Bangladesh's culture, religion and history. It has evolved over centuries and assimilated influences from social, religious and exotic communities. The architecture of Bangladesh bears a remarkable impact on the lifestyle, tradition and cultural life of Bangladeshi people. Bangladesh has many architectural relics and monuments dating back thousands of years.
Jagajjibanpur or Jagajivanpur is an archaeological site in Habibpur block of Malda district in West Bengal state in eastern India. This site is located at a distance of 41 km east from English Bazar town. The most significant findings from this site include a copper-plate inscription of Pala emperor Mahendrapaladeva and the structural remains of a 9th-century Buddhist Vihara: Nandadirghika-Udranga Mahavihara.
Shalban Bihar is an archaeological site in Moinamoti, Comilla, Bangladesh. The ruins are in the middle of the Lalmai hills ridge, and these are of a 7th-century Paharpur-style Buddhist Bihar with 115 cells for monks. It operated through the 12th century.
Sitakot Vihara is an archaeological site located in Nawabganj upazila in Dinajpur district of Bangladesh. The site is locally known as the residence of Sita. Through regular excavations in the years 1968 and 1972–1973, an ancient Buddhist monastery was discovered in the site. The monastery dates from a similar time period to the nearby Somapura Mahavihara and Halud Vihara.
Nateshwar Deul is a Buddhist archaeological site located in the village of Nateshwar in Tongibari Upazila in the Munshiganj District, Bangladesh. It is the ruin of a Buddhist city established from 780 to 950 CE and from 950 to 1223 CE in the Bikrampur region. Archaeological excavation began at Nateshwar in 2012–13. From 2013 to 2018, an area of approximately 500 square metres (5,400 sq ft) was excavated. Sixteen Buddhist stupas, including Bangladesh's only pyramid-shaped one, have been found in Nateshwar.
The Pahcimbhag copperplate inscription, Srichandra Paschimbhag copperplate inscription or simply Chandrapur inscription is a copperplate inscription issued in 935 by Srichandra, the second king of the Chandra Dynasty of south-east Bengal. The inscription was discovered in the village of Paschimbhag, Moulvibazar district. It is one of 12 known copperplate inscriptions by Chandra Dynasty kings. The inscription is mainly a deed of donation, in which Srichandra grants lands for many Brahmins and for nine monasteries in the Sylhet region, which formed Chandrapur University, named after Srichandra. It includes a detailed description of the Chandra kingdom and the Palas and Kamboja Pala rulers of Bengal and refers to the society of pre-medieval Bengal.
The Indian subcontinent has a long history of education and learning from the era of Indus Valley civilization. Important ancient institutions of learning in ancient India are Takshashila, Kashmir Smast, Nalanda, Valabhi University, Sharada Peeth, Pushpagiri Vihara, Odantapuri University, Vikramashila, Somapura Mahavihara, Bikrampur Vihara, Jagaddala Mahavihara.
Bikrampur was a historical city near present-day Dhaka, Bangladesh.
