Ajay Kumar at 05:28, 29 August 2023

2023-08-29T05:28:13Z

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{{Infobox ancient site
| name = Jagaddala Mahavihara
| native_name = {{lang|bn|জগদ্দল মহাবিহার}}
| alternate_name =
| image = Image:Jagaddala1.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Ruins of Jagaddala Mahavihara
| map_type = Bangladesh#South Asia
| map_alt =
| map_size =
| relief = yes
| coordinates = {{Coord|25|9|32|N|88|53|15|E|region:BD_type:landmark_dim:10000|display=inline,title}}
| location = [[Naogaon District|Naogaon]], [[Rajshahi Division|Rajshahi]], [[Bangladesh]]
| type = [[Vihāra]], Ancient [[University]]
| part_of =
| length =
| width =
| area =
| height =
| builder =
| material =
| built = Late 11th century
| abandoned = 1207
| epochs = 
| cultures = [[Buddhism]]
| dependency_of =
| occupants =
| event =
| excavations =
| archaeologists =
| condition =
| ownership =
| management =
| public_access =
| website = 
| notes =
}}

{{History of Bangladesh}}

'''Jagaddala Mahavihara''' ([[floruit|fl.]] late 11th century - mid-12th century) was a [[Buddhist]] monastery and seat of learning in [[Varendra]], a geographical unit in present north Bengal in Bangladesh.<ref name="India 1962. pg 377">''Buddhist Monks And Monasteries Of India: Their History And Contribution To Indian Culture.'' by Dutt, Sukumar. George Allen and Unwin Ltd, London 1962. pg 377</ref> It was founded by the later kings of the [[Pāla dynasty]], probably [[Ramapala]] (c. 1077-1120), most likely at a site near the present village of Jagdal in [[Dhamoirhat Upazila]] in the north-west [[Bangladesh]] on the border with India, near Paharapur.<ref name="UNESCO World Heritage website">[https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1212/ UNESCO World Heritage website]</ref> Some texts also spell the name '''Jaggadala'''.

==Location==
Little is known about Jagaddala compared with the other mahaviharas of the era. For many years, its site was could not be ascertained. A.K.M. Zakaria inspected five likely locations, all called Jagdal or Jagadal, in the [[Rajshahi]]-[[English Bazar|Malda]] region: in [[Panchagarh]]; in [[Haripur Upazila]] of [[Thakurgaon District|Thakurgaon]]; in [[Bochaganj Upazila]] in [[Dinajpur District, Bangladesh|Dinajpur]]; in [[Dhamoirhat Upazila]] of [[Naogaon]]; [[Bamangola (community development block)|Bamangola block]] of [[English Bazar|Malda]], [[India]].<ref name=bp/> Of these, significant ancient ruins were present only near the Jagdal in Naogaon district. Excavations under the aegis of [[Unesco]] over the past decade have established the site as a Buddhist monastery.

==History==

===Founding===
A large number of monasteries or [[vihara]]s were established in ancient [[Bengal]] and [[Magadha]] during the four centuries of [[Pala empire|Pala]] rule in North-eastern India (756-1174 AD). [[Dharmapala]] (781-821) is said to have founded 50 viharas himself,<ref name=bp>{{Cite web |url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Jagaddala_Mahavihara |title=Jagaddala Mahavihara |website=Banglapedia}}</ref> including [[Vikramashila]], the premier university of the era.
Jaggadala was founded toward the end of the Pāla dynasty, most likely by Rāmapāla (c. 1077-1120).<ref name="India 1962. pg 377"/> According to Tibetan sources, five great Mahaviharas stood out: [[Vikramashila]]; [[Nalanda]], past its prime but still illustrious, [[Somapura]], [[Odantapuri|Odantapurā]], and Jagaddala.<ref>Vajrayoginī: Her Visualizations, Rituals & Forms by Elizabeth English. Wisdom Publications. {{ISBN|9780861713295}} p. 15</ref> The five monasteries formed a network; "all of them were under state supervision" and their existed "a system of co-ordination among them ... it seems from the evidence that the different seats of Buddhist learning that functioned in eastern India under the Pāla were regarded together as forming a network, an interlinked group of institutions," and it was common for great scholars to move easily from position to position among them.<ref>''Buddhist Monks And Monasteries Of India: Their History And Contribution To Indian Culture.'' by Dutt, Sukumar. George Allen and Unwin Ltd, London 1962. pg 352-3 {{ISBN|9788120804982}}</ref>

Jagaddala specialized in [[Vajrayana]] Buddhism. A large number of texts that would later appear in the [[Tibetan Buddhist canon|''Kangyur'' and ''Tengyur'']] were known to have been composed or copied at Jagadala.<ref>''Buddhist Monks And Monasteries Of India: Their History And Contribution To Indian Culture.'' by Dutt, Sukumar. George Allen and Unwin Ltd, London 1962. pg 378</ref> It is likely that the earliest dated anthology of Sanskrit verse, the ''Subhāṣitaratnakoṣa,'' was compiled by [[Vidyākara]] at Jaggadala toward the end of the 11th century or the beginning of the 12th.<ref>''Dreaming the Great Brahmin: Tibetan traditions of the Buddhist poet-saint Saraha'' by Kurtis R. Schaeffer, Sarahapāda pg 88</ref>

===Abandonment===
Śakyaśrībhadra, a Kashmiri scholar who was the last abbot of [[Nalanda]] Mahavihara and instrumental in transmitting Buddhism to [[Tibet]], is said to have fled to Tibet in 1204 from Jagaddala when Muslim incursions seemed imminent. Historian Sukumar Dutt tentatively placed the final destruction of Jagaddala to 1207; in any case it seems to have been the last mahavihara to be overrun.<ref>''Buddhist Monks And Monasteries Of India: Their History And Contribution To Indian Culture.'' by Dutt, Sukumar. George Allen and Unwin Ltd, London 1962. pg 379-80</ref>

==Excavation and UNESCO status==
In 1999 Jagaddala was submitted as tentative site for inclusion on the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites. UNESCO reports that excavation has revealed "an extensive mound, 105 metres long by 85 metres, which represents the archaeological remains of a Buddhist monastery . . . finds have included terracotta plaques, ornamental bricks, nails, a gold ingot and three stone images of deities.<ref name="UNESCO World Heritage website"/>

== Photo gallery ==
<Gallery>
Image:Jagaddala Mahavihara 2.jpg|Ruins of Jagaddala Mahavihara
Image:Jagaddala Mahavihara.jpg|Jagaddala Mahavihara is the only Buddhist vihara identified & excavated in Bangladesh which has a rooftop of around 60 cm thickness.
Image:Stone Pillars at Jagaddala.jpg|Fallen stone pillars
</Gallery>

==See also==
* [[List of archaeological sites in Bangladesh]]
* [[History of Bangladesh]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Clear}}
{{Ancient Dharmic centres of Higher Learning}}
{{Non-extant Bengal places}}
{{Buddhism topics}}

[[Category:11th-century establishments in Asia]]
[[Category:Buddhist universities and colleges]]
[[Category:Former Buddhist temples]]
[[Category:Pala Empire]]
[[Category:Ancient universities of the Indian subcontinent]]
[[Category:Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Bangladesh]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Bangladesh]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Bangladesh]]
[[Category:Buddhist schools]]
[[Category:Buddhist archaeological sites]]
[[Category:Defunct Buddhist monasteries]]
[[Category:Bangladeshi culture]]
[[Category:Naogaon District]]
[[Category:Ruined abbeys and monasteries]]
[[Category:Ruins in Bangladesh]]

Jagaddala Mahavihara - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 05:28, 29 August 2023