Paharpur Bihar / Sompur Bihar

       

District  :   Naogaon
Upazila  :   Badalgachi

The largest Buddhist monastery in the sub-continent is located in Paharpur village under Badagachi upazila of Naogaon district. You can see this monastery about 3 miles west from the Jamalganj station on the Shantahar-Parbatipur railway line. In the 800-900, the second Pala king Dharmapal constructed this temple. This is a great bihara. The name of the temple is Sompur Mahavihara. This is the largest 'Buddhist Temple and Stupa' in the sub-continent of Bihar. It is one of the largest monasteries in the world. The monastery was built like a castle. In this large-scale architectural story, there were 177 Buddhist monks, auspicious stupas, small temples, a central temple. This monastery is built on 27 acres of land.
The central temple was centrally located in the center of the huge courtyard in Bihar. It looks like a cross. The temple walls are made of brick and cloth. It is about 108 meters in length and about 95 meters in width. The upper part of the temple is no longer alive. At present, the height of the temple is about 72 feet. This central temple is a unique architecture of the architecture industry. The number of terracotta paintings planted on the temple is about 2000. But earlier it was even more. The main attractions of this monastery are these terracotta plaques made during the Pala era.
Small rooms were built in alignment along the boundary wall of Bihar. These are the fixed rooms for monks. The walls of the rooms were about 16 feet wide. Each of the alignment rooms inside the wall was about 14 feet in length and 13 feet in width. There were verandahs in front of the rooms. The main entrance to the monastery was north side.
The oldest of the written patterns found in this site is found in a copper plate of 479 AD. The terracotta plaques of the outer walls of the temple are particularly notable. In addition to images of Buddhism in the blade figure, the notion of Lokayata (general people) art has been enhanced. Happiness and sorrow, laughter, tears, hope-hopelessness and daily activities etc. of the common people of the society are highlighted in this Lokayata art. The pictures of the goddesses of Jain, Buddhism and Hinduism are highlighted in beautiful and elaborate manner in the pavilion of the burnt soil. Amongst other monuments in the Lokayeta industry, the women standing by the door, the men standing in the front, the warriors running in the hands of the sword, women dressed in the sword, the dancing women, the women with the children, the human being on the back of the camel, the ornamented women, exercising exercises, women and men fighting, charioteer archer , Traveler, monk, worshiper, plow-shoulder peasant, various musical instruments including male-female society. Among the creatures of the world, venomous swan, snake-eating swan, gem in the head of the snake, bear and leopard tiger fight, two heady snakes, the swan of the lotus flower, the peacock eating peacock, the dog, the peacam fair peacock, the snail, the deer, Tigers, buffaloes, fish, monkeys, elephants, lions, pigs, tortoises, horses, beggars, rabbits, bulls, donkeys, ducks, eagles, cock-chicken etc are found in terracotta. Among the prototype terracotta figurines in plants, the lotus, banana, papaya, etc. have been found. In 1985 UNESCO announced it as World Cultural Heritage (Tradition No 322).
On the east-south corner of Bihar, outside the wall, a paved valley can be seen which is known as Shandhabati Ghat.

        

Last Updated Date of This Artical : 0000-00-00

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