5/5 Murshed R. 11 months ago on Google • 358 reviews
This
location
is
referred
to
as
"Rupban
Mura"
locally.
After
some
digging,
the
ruins
of
a
monastery,
a
shrine,
and
an
octagonal
votive
stupa
were
discovered.
Among
the
artifacts,
one
Gupta
counterfeit
gold
coin,
four
coins
made
of
degraded
metal,
three
coins
of
silver,
and
a
large
post-Gupta
Buddha
statue
are
noteworthy.
All
of
the
available
information
suggests
that
the
original
monastery
and
shrine
could
have
existed
before
the
eighth
century
A.D.
The
significant
archaeological
site
of
Rupban
Mura
is
located
near
Mainamati,
close
to
the
present-day
BARD
and
BDR
buildings,
in
the
Kotbari
neighborhood
on
the
south
side
of
the
Comilla-Kalirbazar
road.
In
this
location,
excavations
have
uncovered
the
ruins
of
a
spectacular
medium-sized
semi-cruciform
shrine
together
with
a
number
of
auxiliary
buildings,
including
an
octagonal
stupa
and
another
on
a
square
base.
All
of
these
are
enclosed
by
a
boundary
wall
within
the
rectangular
stupa
courtyard.
Its
main
entrance
is
on
the
east
side,
facing
the
entrance
to
the
monastery.
Deep
excavations
have
uncovered
three
primary
eras
of
construction,
maintenance,
and
reconstruction,
with
the
earliest
being
during
the
sixth
and
seventh
centuries
AD.
On
this
extremely
damaged
site,
very
few
remains
from
the
most
recent
period
(10th–11th
century
AD)
still
exist.
Cruciform
Shrine
It
was
initially
constructed
as
a
solid
stupa
with
a
square
foundation
and
then
changed
into
a
semi-cruciform
shrine
during
the
second
phase
(8th
century).
AD).
It
has
a
peculiarity
that
hasn't
been
seen
before.
Three
long,
thin
chapels
were
constructed
on
the
eastern
(front)
side
of
the
shrine
in
place
of
the
single
chapel
that
would
have
been
built
in
each
of
the
long
arms
of
the
cross.
It
was
revealed
that
the
enormous
stone
Buddha,
which
is
now
on
display
in
the
Mainamati
Museum,
was
located
in
the
middle
chapel.
On
the
eastern
side
facing
the
entryway,
the
Itakhola
Mura
great
stupa
next
to
it
has
the
same
feature.
Bronze
picture
fragments
discovered
in
other
chapels
imply
the
installation
of
such
images
there.
A
second,
31-meter-tall
monastery,
measuring
34.1
meters
square,
was
constructed
there.
a
location
in
the
southeast
of
a
cruciform
stupa.
Its
impressive
gateway
complex
measures
12.5
by
6.9
meters
and
is
located
in
the
center
of
the
northern
wing.
It
was
initially
constructed
with
a
standard
square
layout
and
had
four
wings
with
a
total
of
24
cells;
however,
in
the
second
phase,
only
18
cells
remained.
Due
to
irreparable
damage,
the
southern
wing,
which
was
11.7
square
meters
in
size,
was
abandoned.
Its
front
was
then
built
up
with
a
row
of
new
cells,
giving
the
monastery
its
current
oblong
(34.1m
x
24.8m)
shape.
The
second
period
cells
have
brick
bedsteads
and
corbelled
niches.
To
remove
rainfall
from
the
courtyard,
a
large
corbelled
drain
was
constructed.
Along
with
the
enormous
stone
Buddha,
other
finds
from
the
site
include
five
debased
gold
coins
of
Khadga
monarch
Balabhatta.
5 people found this review helpful 👍
