Paharpur Buddhist Monastery is another tourist attraction of North Bengal. Paharpur is a small village 5 km. west of Jamalganj in the greater Rajshahi district. You can go to Paharpur from Jaipur district. Its only 10 km from Jaipur.King Dharma Pal established Paharpur Buddhist Monastery in 7th century, which is the most important and the largest known monastery south of the Himalayas, has been excavated. The main Mandir is in the center of this Monastery. This 7th century archaeological find covers approximately an area of 27 acres of land.The entire establishment, occupying a quadrangular court, measuring more than 900 ft. externally on each side, has high enclosure- walls about 16 ft. in thickness and from 12 ft. to 15 ft. height. With 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. A small site-Museum built in 1956-57 houses the representative collection of objects recovered from the area, where you can see the statues of Buddha and Vishnu. The excavated findings have also been preserved at the Varendra Research Museum at Rajshahi. The antiquities of the museum include terracotta plaques, images of different gods and goddesses, potteries, coins, inscriptions, ornamental bricks and other minor clay objects.

Paharpur Buddhist Monastery is eminently renowned for its unique architectural design. The exclusive terracotta plaques of the then musicians, snake charmers, animals are main objects to view. The outer walls of the temple are inscribed with the lifestyle plaques of common people of hundreds of years.

The 8th century AD archaeological find covers approximately an area of 27 acres of land.

These Paharpur sculptures, 63 of which are fixed on the basement wall of the temple, offer a unique opportunity to make a detailed

Inside wall design of Paharpur Biher

study of them from the religious, artistic, technical and socioeconomic points of view.

There are 45 cells on the north and 44 in each of the other three sides with a total number of 177 cells.

Travelers can easily decide to travel the spot as Paharpur Bihar has full historical flavour of 7th century and was legendary since twelve century.

Brief History of Paharpur.

According to the available history, the Paharpur Bihar was established by King Dharma Pal.

The center of the Monastery contains the main temple and the total area consists of around cc.

Hundreds of Buddha monks used to gather here for take lesson on different disciplines apart from Buddhism religion.

The monks from different parts of the world including, China, India, Japan and other Asian countries used to gather here and exchanged their study on culture, art, politics and other faculties.

Atisha Dipankar stayed here for many years and translated the Madhyamaka Ratnapradipa into Tibetan.

As per historians, Hinduism however, influenced over the Buddhism and Buddhism finally lost its glamour. In the late 12th century, the Buddhism almost ruined.

How to reach Paharpur!

The highway communication is very smooth to visit Paharpur. Both by bus and by train one can visit the great Paharpur Bihar from Dhaka.

Sompur Bihar at Paharpur is about 270 km by road from Dhaka and it will take about 6 hours to reach Paharpur by bus or private car if no major stoppage is made along the way. If one starts from Dhaka, the route shall be Dhaka-Tangail-Jamuna Bridge – Bogra – Joypurhat and finally Paharpur.

The easy way to tour the site is to first reach Bogra and visit Mahasthangarh and stay at Parjatan Motel at night and then hire a taxi to go to Paharpur via Joypurhat or Naogaon on the next day.

Beside luxurious coach services from Dhaka to Joypurhat are available. It takes about 6 hours to reach Joypurhat and there are rickshaws and auto-rickshaws available from there to go to Paharpur.

In Paharpur, a small village 5 km. west of Jamalganj railway station in the greater Rajshahi district, the remains of the most important and the largest known monastery south of the Himalayas has bee excavated. This 8th century A.D. archaeological find covers approximately an area of 27 acres of land. The entire establishment occupies a quadrangular court, measuring more than 900 ft. and from 12fh to 15ft. in height with elaborate gateway complex on the north. There are 45 cells on the north and 44 in each of 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 pahar or hillock. A site museum built recently houses the representative coactions of objects recovered from the area. The excavated findings have also been preserved at the Veranda Research museum at Rajshahi. The antiquities of the museum include terracotta plaques, images of different gods and goddesses, potteries, coins, inscriptions, ornamental bricks and other minor clay objects . It has been declared as a World Heritage site by UNESCO.

Paharpur Buddhist Monastery

Paharpur Buddhist Monastery is one of the most attractive tourist spots in Bangladesh. It is one of the main attractions of North Bengal. It is a small village five kilometers far the Jamalgonj in the Rajshahi district. We can also go to Paharpur from Joypurhat district. It is only 10 km far from Joypurhat.
King dharma Pal established Paharpur Buddhist Monastery in the 17th century. It is the most important and largest one. The main Mandir is in the central of the Monastery. The total area of this Monastery was about 27 acres of land at that time. The architecture of the pyramidal cruciform temple is influenced by the South East Asia especially Myanmar and Java.
There is also a small site Museum. It was built in 1956-57. It has a rare collection of objects enrolled from the area. There are also the statues of Buddha and Vishnu.