Buddhist Vihara at Paharpur
The Somapura Vihara is a Buddhist Monastery dating from the late 8th century. It is located in Paharpur, in the northwest of Bangladesh. It is said to be the second largest single Buddhist monastery south of the Himalayas. It was made a WHS as a tribute to the Pala dynasty, that ruled Bengal and Bihar for 3,5 centuries from the middle of the 8th century.
The monastery is built as a quadrangle, measuring 281 meter on each side. All outer four wings contain monastic cells, 177 in total. In the center of the vast open courtyard of the monastery stands the shrine. Its remains are still 21 meter high and have three gradually diminishing terraces. The walls were built of burnt bricks, some ornamented with motifd of flowers and seated Buddhas. There were also bands of terracotta plaques in rows all around the terraces.
From the 12th century on, after numerous attacks by invaders, the monks left and the monastery buildings suffered decline and desintegration.
The site was first proposed as a WHS in 1984, but then deferred by the Committee because of plans for mining industries in the proximity. In 1985, after giving guarantees about establishing a buffer zone, it was finally included on the World Heritage List.
Visit December 2006
The Somapura Vihara of Paharpur is located in the middle of some industrious villages. The monastery can be seen already from far. We first stop at the museum. It has some original ornaments (the ones at the site itself are largely replicas).
The remains of the monastery are now in a peaceful environment. Two children are cutting grass. A woman is drying saris on the field. Almost all of the archeological terrain is covered by grass. The monasterial remains have been hidden under the same grass and stones for centuries, after the monks left in the 13th century. Locals thought it to be a hill, hence the name Paharpur (hill town). The monastery complex that was discovered behind the rubble had 177 monastic cells, a water pit, a kitchen, various stupas en the centrally located main temple.
The whole complex is much bigger than I had anticipated. Because of its location (in the far northwest corner of Bangladesh) it doesn't see many visitors and also isn't widely known. The whole area seems to be well cared for, although many of the bricks are in need of repair. Fortunately there are many brick factories around.
More photos can be found in the Picture Gallery
Reviews
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I live in bangladesh.My home districk is naogaon.when i was a student of class eight i went to paharpur buddhist vihara.it was a fantastic experiance for me.you know paharpur is situated in naogaon.it is a high hill.i reashed top of the hill. |
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Buddhist Vihare at paharpur, distrect Naogaon,country bangladesh.buddhist Vihare at paharpur is good place of world heritage site.I want to say that to Traveler, please go to buddhist Vihare at Paharpur and injoy your life. when my age is 16 then i did visiting the place. |
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Paul Tanner (UK):
 The “Somapuri Vihara” at Pahapur is said to have been the “biggest Buddhist monastery south of the Himalayas”. Whether this is true I know not but it is quite an impressive site, albeit not up to some “world class” Buddhist ruins such as Borobodur or Anuradhapura. One of its most pleasing aspects is that it is set deep, deep, DEEP into the Bangladeshi countryside. Getting there is a pleasure in itself as you pass the myriad of rural activities which characterise the Bengali way of life.
The site consists of a large quadrangle of some 170 monastic cells set in a high wall/earthwork and looking inward (photo) to a 3 level Stupa now largely ruined but originally containing, presumably, Buddha statues in shrines set deep into each face of the structure. There are also various other structures within the quadrangle. A visit (allow 2 hours) is likely to consist of a walk around the outer wall and then round each of the 3 levels of the stupa whilst taking in some of the other structures. Around the Stupa itself you can see examples (some original and some modern) of the terracotta “tiles” which decorated the walls of each level – a mixture of Buddhist, Hindu and Jain artwork (Buddhism reached its zenith in Bengal during the 8th to 11th centuries before being replaced by a Hindu resurgence in 12th century but was probably always heavily influenced by Hindu and aboriginal polytheistic aspects). The Pahapur museum also contains some of these, although we found the best examples of this type of decoration in the museum of another Bangladeshi archaeological site the Salban Vihara at Mainimati (on the Bangladesh tentative list).
If you go to Bangladesh it would be a shame to miss this site but it is rather out of the way in the Northwest of the country (although there is much else of interest up there) and I couldn’t describe it as a “must do” – if you see Mainimati which is more accessible and on the route to the coast and the tribes of the Hill Tracts you will get the general idea of what a “Vihara” was like! |
| Date posted: February 2006 |
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