It is treated as the Largest Buddhist Seat of Learning of South Asia. It
is a small village, 5 km west of Jamalganj in the greater Rajshahi
district, where the remains of the most important and the largest known
monastery south of the Himalayas has been excavated. This 7th century AD
archaeological find covers an area of approximately 11 hectare. The
entire establishment, occupying a Quadrangular court, measures more than
300 meters and varies from 3.5 to 4.5 meters in height with an
elaborate gateway complex on the north, there are 45 cells on the north
and 44 in each of the other three sides, with a total number of 177
rooms. The architecture of the pyramidal cruciform temple is
profoundly influenced by those of South-East Asia, especially Myanmar
and Java. It had taken its name from a high mound, which looked like a
Pahar or hillock. A site museum built recently houses a representative
collection of objects recovered from the area. The excavated findings
have also been preserved at the Varendra Research Museum at Rajshahi.
The antiquities in the museum include terracotta plaques, images of
different gods and goddesses, pottery, coin inscription, ornamental
bricks and other minor clay objects included as world heritage site
first in Bangladesh.
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