Shalbon bihar | Cumilla Bangladesh | শালবন বিহার, কুমিল্লা বাংলাদেশ
History:-Shalban vihara (Shalban Bihar) in Mainamati, Comilla,
Bangladesh is one of the best known Buddhist viharas in the Indian
Subcontinent and is one of the most important archaeological sites in
the country. At the end of the 8th century, King Shri Bhavadeva
(Vobodev) made the "Salban Bihar" in this place. The digging started
from 80th decades. Many archaeological elements were found here. Most of
them are kept in the Mainamati Museum now.
Before 1200 years ago the King Bhava Deva, the fourth ruler of the
Early-Deva dynasty built that place on 168 square meters of ground. It
was the royal palace for the early Buddhist students. This site,
previously called Shalban Rajar Bari, came out after archaeological
excavation as a Buddhist monastery and hence termed as Salban vihara
from the terracotta seals and copper plates discovered. Its original
name is supposed to have been Bhava Deva Mahavihara after the 4th king
of the early Deva dynasty which ruled this region from the mid-7th to
mid-8th centuries AD. It was built in or on the outskirts of
Devaparvata, the Samatata capital bordering the Lalambi forest.
Geography:-About eight kilometres west of Comilla town, lies a range of low hills
known as the Mainamati-Lalmai range which is dotted with more than 50
ancient Buddhist settlements dating from the 8th to the 12th centuries.
Almost at middle is the Salvan Vihara of 115 cells built around a
spacious courtyard with a cruciform temple in the centre. About
5 kilometres north of Shalvan Vihara is Kutila Mura, which is a
picturesque relic of a unique Buddhist establishment.
Importance:- This was once a self-contained Buddhist monastery where, monks lived,
studied and prayed.It was the royal palace for the early Buddhist
students.Students from various places come here for their meditation and
religious learning. During their study period the students stay in the
dormitory/cells around the temple. It's such a quiet place inside a
barren forest and one of the greatest tourist spots in Bangladesh.
Exploration and excavation:-Deep diggings have revealed four repair and rebuilding phases in the
monastery, the earliest corresponding to period III of the cruciform
central shrine. No monastery remains corresponding to period I and II
(7th century AD) has yet been found. Some scanty and ill-defined remains
below the present structure may suggest their existence, probably of
smaller size. During the next two phases (period IV and V: 9th–10th
centuries AD) new floors and thresholds were built on top of earlier
remains. Two interesting features observed inside the cells, fireplaces
and ornamental brick-pedestals, were not included in the original plan.
Though there was a community kitchen and dining establishment, many of
the resident monks (probably sramanas: lay-students) preferred to cook
their meals individually inside their cells. The pedestals certainly
served the purpose of private cult worship. Discoveries made during
explorations and excavations suggests that this establishment may
probably have some provision for accommodating poorer lay students
(sramanas) from neighbouring settlements with cheaper arrangements for
cooking their own food with materials brought from home, an age-old
practice still in vogue in certain parts of rural Bengal.
Architecture:-The large square monastery of 550-foot sides with 115 monastic cells, a
dominant central shrine and a number of subsidiary shrines. Stupas and
chapels, provides access through its monumental gateway on the north.
While the central shrine revealed six building phases and the monastery
four. The 1st and 2nd phases of the central shrine remains buried under
the ruins of the 3rd, 4th and 5th periods but the remains of the 6th
phase have been removed from the top. The cruciform central shrine of
third built with the monastery as a single complex.
Staircases:-In the middle of each wing, the monastery verandah is provided with a
shallow projection to serve as the base for a flight of steps leading
down to the brick-paved courtyard, the arrangement in the front side
being larger and more elaborate. Compared to them, the arrangement in
each corner of the monastery is a grand affair. Here, occupying a pair
of cells, a solidly built broad and massive staircase leads to the roof
or an upper floor. Such elaborate arrangements coupled with the evidence
of a strong roof naturally suggest the existence of an upper storey.
Chapels:-The central cell in each wing is larger, stronger and more elaborate
with certain special features such as small pedestals and platforms with
decorative mouldings, larger niches, etc. By analogy to similar
arrangements in Nalanda and Paharpur monasteries, they certainly
represent subsidiary chapels or shrines.
The central shrine:-The shrine at Shalban Vihara is actually not but six different
structures built successively on the same spot in different periods and
on different plans. They provide interesting evidence of the evolution
and gradual transforming of the traditional Buddhist stupa architecture
into that of the Hindu temple. The remains of the first two periods are
hidden below the cruciform shrine of period III which was built with the
monastery as a single complex. It is an exceedingly interesting piece
of architecture resembling in ground plan a Greek cross, 51.8m long with
chapels built in the projecting arms. Its basement walls are
embellished with a string course of delightfully sculptured terracotta
plaques set within parallel bands of ornamental bricks. This shrine
bearing a striking resemblance with that of Paharpur represents a fully
developed and finished example of the 7th- to 8th-century Buddhist
temple architecture of Bengal. Since the Mainamati monuments are
unquestionably earlier in date by about a century, and as there are a
number of early and intermediary stages of development in this
evolutionary process clearly traceable in Mainamati.Mainamati supplied
prototypes of cruciform shrines not only for Paharpur and Vikramashila
in eastern India but also for the subsequent Buddhist architectural
development in Burma, Indonesia and Indochina. The next two periods (IV
and V) witnessed an interesting further transformation and development
in the plan of the central shrine, the cruciform shape being replaced by
an oblong one. Now fully open, spacious and functional, it is much
nearer to a Hindu temple. In these structural changes may lie the
primary reason for discontinuing the earlier Biddhist tradition of the
delightful terracotta decorations in the early Muslim architecture of
Bengal, though in a somewhat different form. The main interest in these
evolved shrines shifted from the outer walls around the circumambulatory
path to the inner chambers with space enough for images, sculptures and
architectural decorations, and specially to the principal cult images
consecrated in them.
Materials found:-The finds from excavations at Shalban Vihara have been very rich and
valuable which include seven copper-plate inscriptions, about 350 golds
and a large number of sculptural specimens in stone, bronze and
terracotta, and innumerable terracotta sculptured plaques found both in situ and otherwise. To watch the vidoe click here
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