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{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2017}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Kumhrar
| other_name =
| settlement_type = Neighbourhood
| image_skyline = Ruins of Arogya Vihar, Kumhrar.jpg
| image_alt =
| image_caption = Ruins of Arogya Vihar, ancient city of [[Pataliputra]], Kumhrar
| nickname =
| pushpin_map = India Patna
| pushpin_label_position = left
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Patna, India
| coordinates = {{coord|25|35|56|N|85|11|5|E|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{flag|India}}
| subdivision_type1 = [[States and territories of India|State]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[Bihar]]
| subdivision_type2 = Metro
| subdivision_name2 = Patna
| established_title = 
| established_date =
| founder =
| named_for =
| government_type =
| governing_body =
| unit_pref = Metric
| area_footnotes =
| area_rank =
| area_total_km2 =
| elevation_footnotes =
| elevation_m =
| population_total =
| population_as_of =
| population_rank =
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_demonym =
| population_footnotes =
| demographics_type1 = Languages
| demographics1_title1 = Spoken
| demographics1_info1 = [[Hindi language|Hindi]], [[Magadhi language|Magadhi]]
| timezone1 = [[Indian Standard Time|IST]]
| utc_offset1 = +5:30
| postal_code_type = [[Postal Index Number|PIN]]
| postal_code = 800026
| metro_station = [http://www.patnametro.in Kumhrar Metro Station]
| map = [http://www.patnametro.in/Imagesnew/Revised_plan_of_Patna_Metro-30-09-13.jpg Patna Metro Rail Map]
| blank1_name_sec1 = [[Urban planning|Planning agency]]
| blank1_info_sec1 = [[Patna Regional Development Authority]]
| blank2_name_sec1 = Civic agency
| blank2_info_sec1 = [[Patna Municipal Corporation]]
| website = [https://web.archive.org/web/20100416105758/http://www.patna.nic.in/ patna.nic.in]
| footnotes =
| official_name =
}}

'''Kumhrar''' or '''Kumrahar''' is the area of [[Patna]] where remains of the ancient city of [[Pataliputra]] were excavated by the Archaeological Survey of India starting from 1913. It is located 5 km east of Patna Railway Station.<ref>{{cite web|title=Destinations :: Patna |url=http://bstdc.bih.nic.in/Patna.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140918091228/http://bstdc.bih.nic.in/patna.htm |archive-date=2014-09-18 }}</ref>

[[Archaeological]] remains of the [[Mauryan]] period (322–185 BCE) have been discovered here,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/Experts-meet-to-preserve-Kumhrar-on-Dec-29/articleshow/927151.cms |title=Archived copy |access-date=2015-10-17 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160730195915/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/Experts-meet-to-preserve-Kumhrar-on-Dec-29/articleshow/927151.cms |archive-date=30 July 2016 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> this include the ruins of a [[hypostyle]] 80-pillared hall<ref name=toi>[http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2002-02-01/patna/27128477_1_heritage-site-asi-tiger-safari Devise plan to save Kumhrar site:HC] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021144557/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2002-02-01/patna/27128477_1_heritage-site-asi-tiger-safari |date=21 October 2012 }} [[The Times of India]], 1 February 2002.</ref><ref name=ex>[http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2006-12-26/patna/27808641_1_asi-mauryan-archaeological-site Experts' meet to preserve Kumhrar] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021144504/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2006-12-26/patna/27808641_1_asi-mauryan-archaeological-site |date=21 October 2012 }} [[The Times of India]], 26 December 2006</ref> The [[Excavation (archaeology)|excavation]] finding here dates back to 600 BCE,<ref name=pat/> and marks the ancient capital of [[Ajatshatru]], [[Chandragupta Maurya|Chandragupta]] and [[Ashoka the Great|Ashoka]], and collectively the relics range from four continuous periods from 600 BCE to 600 CE.<ref name=pat>[http://patna.bih.nic.in/html/kumhrar.htm Ancient city of Pataliputra] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090410055549/http://patna.bih.nic.in/html/kumhrar.htm |date=10 April 2009 }} [[Patna]] Official website.</ref>

==Assembly Hall of 80-pillars==
Following the excavation of nearby [[Bulandi Bagh]] by [[L.A. Waddell]] in 1895, American archaeologist [[David Brainard Spooner]] excavated in 1912-1913 in Kumhrar one pillar of polished stone, and a very large number of fragments. The excavators were able to trace 72 'pits' of ash and rubble on the site which marked the position in which other pillars must once have stood. During the subsequent excavation, done by K P Jaiswal, 1951-1955, eight more such pits were found, giving the hall its present name – "Assembly hall of 80 pillars".

The pillars are arranged in 8 rows of 10 pillars each. The pillars are separated with each other by a distance of 4.57 meters. Each pillar is made of black spotted buff sandstone monoliths, and was 9.75 meters in height, of which 2.74 meters were below the surface for grounding. Since no other stone works were recovered, it is thought that the pillars sustained a wooden roof, and that there were no surrounding walls, making it an open-air hall. South of the pillared hall, seven wooden platforms were excavated, which are thought to have supported a staircase going into the canal to welcome guests.<ref>[http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/travelogues/144588d1244197529-trails-magadh-dscn5427.jpg Museum notice on the location of the remains] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161126130731/http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/travelogues/144588d1244197529-trails-magadh-dscn5427.jpg |date=26 November 2016 }}</ref>
[[File:Kumhrar Maurya level ASIEC 1912-1913.jpg|thumb|left|Plan of the 80-columns pillared hall.]]
All the ruins are attributed to the [[Mauryan]] period, though historians vary regarding the use of the 80-pillar hall, some suggest that it was in this hall that [[Third Buddhist Council]] was held,<ref name=ex/> in 250 BCE, at ''Ashokarama'' in Patiliputta ([[Pataliputra]]), under the reign of [[Mauryan]] Emperor, [[Ashoka]] (r. 273-232 BCE). The pillared hall seems to have been located about 350 meters south of the wooden palisades of the city of Pataliputra (discovered in the area of [[Bulandi Bagh]]), and was standing by the banks of the former [[Son river]], and therefore cannot have been the Mauryan palace, but probably only "a pleasure hall outside the city walls".<ref name="books.google.fr">Fortified Cities of Ancient India: A Comparative Study, p.11 p.40-43 Dieter Schlingloff, Anthem Press, 2014 {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nVeWBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA9 |title=Fortified Cities of Ancient India: A Comparative Study |isbn=9781783083497 |access-date=2016-11-23 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161122231117/https://books.google.fr/books?id=nVeWBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA9 |archive-date=22 November 2016 |df=dmy-all |last1=Schlingloff |first1=Dieter |date=December 2014 }}</ref>
[[File:Mauryan Hall pillar.jpg|thumb|Single remaining column of the 80-column hall (this pillar was the 3rd pillar of the 6th row on the map).]]
[[File:Portion of Asokan pillar, found in Pataliputra, Modern Bihar - 3 A.D..JPG|thumb|Portion of pillar, found in Pataliputra.]]
Spooner initially thought that the pillars that were not found had sunk into the ground, but later research by Indian archaeologist [[Anant Sadashiv Altekar|Altekar]] showed that instead they had been removed by locals and reused for construction purposes. Altekar also thought that the compound was an isolated structure outside the city of Pataliputra, with not much around it, and that it had been burnt down during the time of the [[Sunga]].<ref>A. S. Altekar and V. Mishra, Report on Kumrahar Excavations 1951-1955 (Patna, 1963), pp. 14-15.</ref>
<gallery>
File:Mauryan ruins at Kumrahar site of Pataliputra ASIEC 1912-1913.jpg|Mauryan ruins at the Kumhrar site of Pataliputra. The unique pillar that was found can be seen in the middle of the photograph.
File:Mauryan ruins of pillared hall at Kumrahar site of Pataliputra ASIEC 1912-13.jpg|Ruins of the pillared hall at the Kumhrar site of Pataliputra.
File:Kumhrar Maurya level southern wooden platforms.jpg|Wooden platforms just south of the hall, thought to have supported a staircase to the canal.
File:Pataliputra patna Bulandi Bagh location.jpg|Locations of Kumhrar and [[Bulandi Bagh]] respective to ancient Pataliputra and modern Patna.<ref name="books.google.fr"/>
</gallery>

==Other structures==
[[File:Kumhrar Gupta level.jpg|thumb|Plan of the Gupta level at Kumhrar (originally on top of the Mauryan 80-pillared hall)]]
'''Anand Bihar''': The foundations of the brick [[Buddhist monastery]] were excavated, apart from wooden beams and clay figures, which are now kept for public display in the surrounding park.<ref name=pat/><br>
'''Arogya Vihar''': Also found during the excavations, are the presence of an ''Arogya Vihar'' headed by [[Dhanvantari]], an early Indian medical practitioner, considered the source of [[Ayurveda]].<ref name=ex/><br>
'''Durakhi Devi Temple''' – Excavations in 1890s, by [[Laurence Waddell]], revealed a detached piece of a carved stone railing of a [[stupa]], with female figures on both the sides, giving it the name, 'Durukhi' or 'Durukhiya' (double faced) Devi, a specimen of [[Sunga Empire|Shunga]] art 2-1st century BCE. The figures are shown grabbing and breaking branches of trees, are ''[[Shalabhanjika]]s'' (the breaker of branches), the young women under a fertility ritual. These images were later brought to their present location, at Naya Tola (Kankarbagh), a kilometer west to the site, where they are presently worshipped in a temple-like structure; a replica of these figures has also been kept in [[Patna Museum]].

Kumhrar is going to have a<ref>[http://www.patnametro.in/Imagesnew/Revised_plan_of_Patna_Metro-30-09-13.jpg Metro Route] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105200921/http://www.patnametro.in/Imagesnew/Revised_plan_of_Patna_Metro-30-09-13.jpg |date=2013-11-05 }}</ref> metro station under<ref>[http://www.patnametro.in Patna Metro] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131025225037/http://www.patnametro.in/ |date=25 October 2013 }}</ref> the [[Patna Metro]] plan.<ref>[http://yac.bih.nic.in/Da-01.htm An overview of archaeological importance of Bihar] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303181914/http://yac.bih.nic.in/Da-01.htm |date=3 March 2016 }} Directorate of [[Archaeology]], Govt. of [[Bihar]].</ref>

==See also==

* [[Agam Kuan]] (Ashoka's Hell chambers)
* [[Barabar Caves]]
*[[Bulandi Bagh]] (location of the city palisade, and the [[Pataliputra capital]])
*[[Zoombla]]

==Further reading==
*[[Anant Sadashiv Altekar|Altekar, A. S.]] Coins in Kumrahar and Bulandibag (Pataliputra) Excavations in 1912-13. (1951).
*Stewart, M. (1993) “D. B. Spooner at Kumrahar: The Persepolitan Legacy,” ''Bulletin of the Asia Institute'', pp. 193–201. {{jstor|24048442}}
*Altekar, A. S. and Mishra, V. (1959) ''Report on Kumrahar Excavations 1951–1955'', Historical Research Series vol.III. Patna: K. P. Jayaswal Research Institute. Available at: http://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.28541.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.biharandjharkhand.com/directory/photo_patna1.htm Images of ''Kumhrar'']

{{Neighbourhoods of Patna}}
{{Buddhist sites in Bihar}}
{{Patna}}

[[Category:Maurya Empire]]
[[Category:Former populated places in India]]
[[Category:History of Bihar]]
[[Category:Buddhist sites in Bihar]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Patna]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Patna]]
[[Category:History of Patna]]
[[Category:Neighbourhoods in Patna]]

Kumhrar - Revision history

CleanupBot at 06:09, 24 November 2023