Bikrampur Vihara is an ancient Buddhist vihara at Raghurampur village,

Bikrampur Bikrampur ("City of Courage") was a pargana situated south of Dhaka, the modern capital city of Bangladesh. In the present day, it is known as Munshiganj District of Bangladesh. It is a historic region in Bengal and was a part of the Bhawal Est ...

Munshiganj District Munshiganj ( bn, মুন্সীগঞ্জ), also historically known as Bikrampur, is a district in central Bangladesh. It is a part of the Dhaka Division and borders Dhaka District. Geography Total land area is 235974 acres (954 km2), ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

Location

The monastery is located at Raghurampur village under Rampal Union of Sadar Upazila of

History

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 Jahangirnagar University ( JU) is a publicly funded university located in Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the only fully residential university in Bangladesh. It operated as a project until 1973, when the 'Jahangirnagar Muslim University Act' w ...

. 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 The Pāla Empire (r. 750-1161 CE) was an imperial power during the post-classical period in the Indian subcontinent, which originated in the region of Bengal. It is named after its ruling dynasty, whose rulers bore names ending with the suffi ...

. It is connected to

Atiśa ( bn, অতীশ দীপংকর শ্রীজ্ঞান, ôtiś dīpôṅkôr śrigyen; 982–1054) was a Buddhist religious leader and master. He is generally associated with his work carried out at the Vikramashila monastery in Biha ...

, an important figure in

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

. 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.

Central temple

Five rooms of the monks sized have been excavated so far. The exact size of the monastery, however, could not be assumed yet.

References

External links

{{Buddhism topics Buildings and structures completed in the 9th century Buddhist monasteries in Bangladesh Ancient universities of the Indian subcontinent Archaeological sites in Bangladesh Former populated places in Bangladesh Pala Empire Buddhist sites in Bangladesh Buddhist universities and colleges

Location

History

Central temple

See also

References

External links