Indian History

                         First level plinth at Somapura Mahavihara/ Image source One of the famous Buddhist monasteries in ancient India, Somapura Mahavihara , the remains of which are located at the Paharpur archaeological site in the Naogaon district of Bangladesh , was built by the second Pala ruler Dharmapala (r. 770- c.810). The Pala rulers were great patrons of Buddhism and built several monasteries.  Somapura Mahavira is one of the best few preserved Buddhist monasteries to survive the Muslim invasions  under  Afghan military chief   Ikhtiyar- al-Din Muḥammad Bakhtiyar Khalji, popularly known as  Bakhtiyar Khilji . The other famous Buddhist monastery of Vikramshila (in the Bhagalpur district of Bihar), built by Dharampala , was destroyed by Bakhtiyar Khilji. Missions sent from Vikramshila monastery resulted in the establishment of Vajrayana form of Buddhism in Tibet in 11th century AD.

                                           Nagarjunakonda|Wikimedia Commons If you travel 170km southeast of Hyderabad and then take a 45-boat ride over the Nagarjuna Sagar reservoir on the Krishna river, you will discover the island of Nagarjunakonda, littered with the remnants of wonderful Buddhist structures. Located in the state of Andhra Pradesh, Nagarjunakonda was visited by seventh century AD Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang in 640 AD.  Before the construction of Nagarjuna Sagar Dam in 1960, Nagarjunakonda, which is spread over an area of 144-acre, was the top of a hill. In order to save several Buddhist structures such as stupa , chaitya , viharas that ran the risk of being submerged due to creation of Nagarjuna Sagar dam, they were reassembled on this hill. One of the Buddhism’s most visited sites, Nagarjunakonda is named after famous Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna, who is credited to have introduced Buddhism to Andhra Pradesh in the 2nd century AD. Tradition has it that it was at

                                               Dhamekh Stupa, Sarnath|Wikimedia Commons Located 10km north of Varanasi, the famous site of Sarnath in Uttar Pradesh is a Buddhist site not to be missed. It was at Sarnath where in Deer Park the Buddha delivered his first sermon after the attainment of enlightenment under the tree of wisdom at Bodh Gaya. The event of his deliverance of first sermon at Sarnath is known in the Buddhist tradition as the turning of the wheel of Sacred Law or “ Dharmachakra Privartan ”.  Painting of the Buddha's first discourse, turning the Dharmacakra; Circa 700-1100 CE; Sanskrit Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita Sutra manuscript written in the Ranjana script; Nalanda, Bihar, India. Image source:  Wikimedia Commons The Buddha journeyed to Sarnath to preach his first sermon to those five ascetics who were his disciples but had left him in disgust when they found that the Buddha became convinced that rigorous self mortification is not the way to obtain final bl

Barabar Caves/Wikipedia Commons Apart from the stupas, caves are the main architectural remains of the period preceding the Gupta dynasty which was founded in the first half of the fourth century AD. The earliest and most prominent among these artificial caves, excavated for religious purposes, are the Buddhist caves of Barabar, in the Jehanabad district of Bihar.  Carved out from solid rocks, Barabar caves ( located 25 km north of Gaya )  were excavated by the greatest Mauryan emperor Ashoka for use by Buddhist monks in the 3rd century BC.  However, two of the Barabar caves were also dedicated by him to the monks of Ajivika sect who were among the chief rivals of Buddhists. This goes on to show that the Ajivika sect enjoyed patronage of Ashoka and his successor Dasharatha who is also credited with the dedication of two caves in the Nagarjuni Hills, near Barabar, to the Ajivikas.  The inner walls of the Barabar caves are finely polished. The workmen of these caves belonged to the scho

                        Anandabodhi tree in Jetavana monastery/Wikimedia Commons It was at Shravasti or Sravasti where the Buddha is said to have performed feats of levitation and other miracles due to challenge from his rivals, though he disapproved their performance by his monks and disciples. A major centre of Buddhist pilgrimage, Sravasti in Uttar Pradesh is known for being the place where the Buddha spent the major portion of his missionary life. In fact, he passed as many as 25 rainy seasons of life here. Needless to say, a large number of his sermons were delivered in Sravasti which served as the ancient capital of Kosala during the reign of king Presenajit. It ranked among the six main cities during the time of Buddha’s death. This can be ascertained form Buddha’s disciple Ananda’s disappointment t that his teacher should have chosen to die in Sravasti instead of a small place like Kusinagar.   Sravasti finds mention in the in the travelogues of Fa-hsien who came to India

10 km south east of Bihar Sharif (headquarters of the Nalanda district) in Bihar, Ghosrawan is a Buddhist site which was once a centre of Buddhism in ancient India. Several Buddhist structures including a life size statue of Khasarpana Avalokitesvara in a standing position have been discovered here.  Kapotaka Vihara, a large monastery referred to and visited by Hiuen Tsang in the seventh century, is believed to have been located at Ghosrawan. The masterpiece of the attractions at Ghosrawan is a 10 feet Buddha statue carved out of gleaming black stone. This huge image is placed beside a tank. Three km north of Ghosrawan is Tetrawan which is home to a large number of Buddhist relics including carved statues of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas.  

About 10 km north-east off district headquarters of Yamunanagar in Haryana, the sleepy village of Sugh was once a great centre of Buddhist learning in ancient India when the place attracted scholars who participated in philosophical debates. According to the famous Chinese monk and scholar Hiuen Tsang who is believed to have visited the place in the 7th century AD, Sugh was a home to ten stupas and five monasteries.  Some of these were built by Mauryan emperor Ashoka. These stupas contained the ashes of the Buddha and his distinguished disciples, Sariputta and Moggallana. 3 kilometres north-west of Sugh is located the Chaneti  stupa .   The archeological site of Sugh, which was known as Shrughna in ancient times, was first identified by Alexander Cunningham . Shrughna was also a famous centre of trade in ancient India.  The nearest railway station to Sugh is Jagadhri Railway Station at Yamunanagar. Lying on the popular Amritsar- Kolkata railway route Jagadhri Railway Station is well c