The Buddha Dhatu Jadi ( bn, বুদ্ধ ধাতু জাদি; my, ဗုဒ္ဓဓာတုစေတီ also known as the Bandarban Golden Temple) is located close to Balaghata town, in Bandarban City, in

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 ...

. '' Dhatu'' are the material remains of a holy person, and in this temple the relics belong to

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

. It is the largest

Theravada ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism represen ...

in Bangladesh and has the second-largest Buddha statue in the country. The Bandaban Golden Temple belongs to the

Theravada Buddhism ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

order, which is practiced by the Marma indigenous people, a dominant ethnic group of Bandarban. It was built in 2000 in Arakanese

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

, an adoption of the

South East Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

style.

Location

The Buddhist temple is known in local language as ''Kyang''. It is located in the remote

Bandarban Hill District Bandarban ( bn, বান্দরবান, Chakma: 𑄝𑄚𑄴𑄘𑄧𑄢𑄴𑄝𑄚𑄴) is a district in South-Eastern Bangladesh, and a part of the Chittagong Division. It is one of the three hill districts of Bangladesh and a part of ...

in south-eastern Bangladesh, which is part of the

Chittagong Division Chittagong Division, officially known as Chattogram Division, is geographically the largest of the eight administrative divisions of Bangladesh. It covers the south-easternmost areas of the country, with a total area of and a population at the 2 ...

Chittagong Hill Tracts The Chittagong Hill Tracts ( bn, পার্বত্য চট্টগ্রাম, Parbotto Chottogram), often shortened to simply the Hill Tracts and abbreviated to CHT, are group of districts within the Chittagong Division in southeast ...

. The temple is ensconced in the hill town of Bandarban, which has two of the highest peaks with rolling hills, namely, the Tajingdong () and the Keokeradong (), covered with dense forests with lush vegetation. Sangu river flows through the town. There is also a waterfall nearby. The temple is built on top of a high hill, which is about from the Balaghat town, and from the Banderban city. Chittagong, known as a "picturesque part of Bangladesh that is referred to as the rooftop of the country", is about away. Within the Bandarban town, the notable structures are the Ethnic Cultural Institute and a Museum. There is also a lake on the hill known as the Debota Pukur (meaning:"pond of the God").

History

Bandarban has a large ethnic population of

Buddhists Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

. Buddhism is practiced by a small percentage of 0.7 in Bangladesh, predominantly a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

country. Buddhism is the third-largest religion in Bangladesh and the practice is of Theravada Buddhism; most Buddhists are from the south-eastern district of

Chittagong Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...

and Chittagong Hill Tracts. In Bangladesh, the Theravada Buddhism, now practiced as "Sangharaj Nikaya", was introduced in the late 19th century, replacing many of the old forms of Buddhism practiced till then. The credit for this is given to Ven. Saramedha, known popularly as "Sangharaj". The ethnic population of the town belongs mostly to Marma, an indigenous group of the Chittagong hill region on the eastern end of the country. They are of Arakanese descent and Buddhists by religion, and are the second-largest indigenous group in the hill districts of Bangladesh. Ven. U Pannya Jota Mahathera is the founder and chief priest of the temple. He belongs to the royal Bohmong family of Bandarban. He is a Theravada monk since 1991. He had served the

government of Bangladesh The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ সরকার — ) is the central executive government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Con ...

for 8 years as a senior assistant judge. The Buddha's ''dhatu'' (relic), which is enshrined in the temple, was a gift given to Ven. U Pannya Jota Mahathera in 1994 by the

State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee The State Saṅgha Mahā Nāyaka Committee ( my, နိုင်ငံတော် သံဃာ့မဟာနာယကအဖွဲ့, abbreviated Mahana or in Burmese, SSMNC in English) is a government-appointed body of high-ranking Buddhis ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

Architecture

Approached by an elegant stairway, the impressive temple built on the hill top is decorated with exquisite sculptural images. Apart from the second-biggest statue of the Buddha that is enshrined in the sanctum, there are smaller statues and a golden bell set on a dragon within the temple precincts. Construction of the temple was started in 1995 and completed in 2000. The ''dhatu'', the corporeal relics of Buddha, has been enshrined here below four statues of Buddha. Buddhists commonly believe that it provides for peace of mind and happiness. The temple now forms a part of the Tourism Development Project of the 'Buddhist Circuit Tour' that is sponsored by the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation. A strict

dress code A dress code is a set of rules, often written, with regard to what clothing groups of people must wear. Dress codes are created out of social perceptions and norms, and vary based on purpose, circumstances, and occasions. Different societies an ...

of 'no shorts and no shoes' in temple precincts is followed here.

Gallery

File:Swarno Mandir.JPG, Buddha Dhatu Jadi File:BuddhaDhatuJadi.jpg, Long shot view of Buddha Dhatu Jadi File:BuddhaDhatuJadi3.jpg, Surrounded by natural beauty File:BuddhaDhatuJadi1.jpg, Side View of Buddha Dhatu Jadi File:BuddhaDhatuJadi4.jpg, Night Sky File:BuddhaDhatuJadi5.jpg, Pillars of Ashoka File:Architectural Detail with Bodhisattva Figure - Dhatu Jadi Temple - Near Bandarban - Chittagong Hill Tracts - Bangladesh (13240392033).jpg, Buddha Statue File:Buddha Dhatu Jadi (04).jpg File:Buddha Dhatu Jadi (01).jpg File:An umbrella of Saturn, Buddha Dhatu Jadi (03).jpg File:Buddha Dhatu Jadi,Bandarban.jpg, Buddha Dhatu Jadi,Bandarban File:Statue of Buddha at Buddha Dhatu Jadi, Bandarban.jpg, Statue of Buddha 1 File:Statue of Buddha at Buddha Dhatu Jadi.jpg, Statue of Buddha 2 File:Statue of Gautam Buddha at Buddha Dhatu Jadi.jpg, Statue of Buddha 3 File:Statue of Shakyamuni at Buddha Dhatu Jadi.jpg, Statue of Shakyamuni File:Buddha Dhatu Jadi (Golden Temple, Bandarban).jpg, Buddha Dhatu Jadi (Golden Temple, Bandarban), seen from Nilachal, photo by Pratyay Hasan

References

Beautiful Bangladesh
* {{Bandarban District Buddhist temples in Bangladesh Bandarban District Buildings and structures in Chittagong Division History of Chittagong Division Buddhist relics Overseas Burmese Buddhist temples 20th-century Buddhist temples Religious organizations established in 1995 Religious buildings and structures completed in 2000