Somapuri
| Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R) |
Somapuri (सोमपुरी) is a Mahavihara in Paharpur, Badalgachhi Upazila, Naogaon District, Bangladesh. It is also called Somapura Mahavihara.
Origin
Variants
- Somapuri सोमपुरी, बंगाल, (AS, p.994)
- Somapura Mahavihara सोमपुर महाविहार
History
It is among the best known Buddhist viharas in the Indian Subcontinent and is one of the most important archaeological sites in the country. It is also one of the earliest sites of Bengal, where significant amount of Hindu statues were found. It was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. It dates from a period to the nearby Halud Vihara and to the Sitakot Vihara in Nawabganj Upazila of Dinajpur.
A number of monasteries grew up during the Pāla period in ancient India in the eastern regions of the Indian subcontinent, comprising Bengal and Magadha. According to Tibetan sources, five great Mahaviharas stood out: Vikramashila, the premier university of the era; Nalanda, past its prime but still illustrious; Somapura Mahavihara; Odantapurā; and Jaggadala.[1] The monasteries formed a network; "all of them were under state supervision" and there 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.[2]
Xuanzang of China was a noted scholar who resided at the Somapura Mahavihara (the largest monastery in ancient India), and Atisa traveled from Bengal to Tibet to preach Buddhism. The earliest form of the Bengali language began to the emerge during the eighth century.
The excavation at Paharpur, and the finding of seals bearing the inscription Shri-Somapure-Shri-Dharmapaladeva-Mahavihariyarya-bhiksu-sangghasya, has identified the Somapura Mahavihara as built by the second Pala king Dharmapala (circa 781–821) of Pāla Dynasty.[4] Tibetan sources, including Tibetan translations of Dharmakayavidhi and Madhyamaka Ratnapradipa, Taranatha's history and Pag-Sam-Jon-Zang, mention that Dharmapala's successor Devapala (circa 810–850) built it after his conquest of Varendra. The Paharpur pillar inscription bears the mention of 5th regnal year of Devapala's successor Mahendrapala (circa 850–854) along with the name of Bhiksu Ajayagarbha. Taranatha's Pag Sam Jon Zang records that the monastery was repaired during the reign of Mahipala (circa 995–1043 AD).[3]
The Nalanda inscription of Vipulashrimitra records that the monastery was destroyed by fire, which also killed Vipulashrimitra's ancestor Karunashrimitra, during a conquest by the Vanga army in the 11th century.
Over time Atisha's spiritual preceptor, Ratnakara Shanti, served as a sthavira of the vihara, Mahapanditacharya Bodhibhadra served as a resident monk, and other scholars spent part of their lives at the monastery, including Kalamahapada, Viryendra and Karunashrimitra. Many Tibetan monks visited the Somapura between the 9th and 12th centuries.[4]
During the rule of the Sena dynasty, known as Karnatadeshatagata Brahmaksatriya, in the second half of the 12th century the vihara started to decline for the last time.[5] One scholar writes, "The ruins of the temple and monasteries at Pāhāpur do not bear any evident marks of large-scale destruction. The downfall of the establishment, by desertion or destruction, must have been sometime in the midst of the widespread unrest and displacement of population consequent on the Muslim invasion."[6]
A copperplate dated to 159 Gupta Era (479 AD) discovered in 1927 in the northeast corner of the monastery, mentions donation of a Brahmin couple to Jain Acharya Guhanandi of Pancha-stupa Nikaya[7] at Vata Gohli, identifiable as the neighbouring village of Goalapara[8]
सोमपुरी (बांग्लादेश)
सोमपुरी (AS, p.994): बांग्लादेश में पहाड़पुर के निकट स्थित इस नगरी की ख्याति का कारण एक मध्यकालीन बौद्ध विहार है. विहार के साथ ही साथ यह शिक्षा का केंद्र भी था जान दूर-दूर से बौद्ध विद्यार्थी अध्ययनार्थ आते थे. [9]
सोमपुर महाविहार
पहाड़पुर बौद्धबिहार या सोमपुर बिहार या सोमपुर महाविहार एक प्राचीन बौद्ध बिहार है जो बर्तमान में ध्वंस अवस्था में है। यह बांग्लादेश के नवगाँव जिले के बादलगाछी उपजिले के पहाड़पुर में स्थित है। यह भारतीय उपमहाद्वीप के सबसे प्रसिद्ध बौद्ध बिहारों में से एक है। 1879 में कनिंघम ने इसकी खोज की थी। वर्ष 1985 में यूनेस्को ने इसे विश्व विरासत स्थल घोषित किया।
पालवंश के द्बितीय राजा धर्मपाल देव ने 8वीं शताब्दी के अन्तिम काल में या 9वीं शताब्दी में इस बिहार का निर्माण कराया था। इस बिहार के पास ही स्थित हलूद विहार और सीताकोट विहार (दिनाजपुर जिला) भी उसी काल के हैं। पहाडपुर के बौद्धबिहार को संसार का सबसे बड़ा बौद्ध बिहार कहा जा सकता है। आकार में इसकी तुलना नालन्दा महाविहार से की जा सकती है। यहाँ केवल भारतीय उपमहाद्वीप के ही नहीं बल्कि चीन, तिब्बत, बर्मा, मलेशिया, इन्डोनेशिया आदि देशों के बौद्ध भी धर्मचर्चा एवं धर्मज्ञान करने के लिये यहाँ आते थे। 10वीं शताब्दी में अतीश दीपंकर श्रीज्ञान इस बिहार के आचार्य थे।
External links
References
- ↑ English, Elizabeth (2002). Vajrayogini: Her Visualization, Rituals, and Forms. Wisdom Publications. p. 15. ISBN 0-86171-329-X.
- ↑ Dutt, Sukumar (1988) [First published 1962]. Buddhist Monks and Monasteries of India: Their History and Their Contribution to Indian Culture. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 352–353. ISBN 978-81-208-0498-2.
- ↑ Chowdhury, AM (2012). "Somapura Mahavihara". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
- ↑ Chowdhury, AM (2012). "Somapura Mahavihara". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
- ↑ Chowdhury, AM (2012). "Somapura Mahavihara". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
- ↑ Dutt, Sukumar (1988) [First published 1962]. Buddhist Monks and Monasteries of India: Their History and Their Contribution to Indian Culture. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. p. 376. ISBN 978-81-208-0498-2.
- ↑ Asher, Frederick M. (1980). The Art of Eastern India: 300 – 800. University of Minnesota Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-4529-1225-7.
- ↑ Dutt, Sukumar (1988) [First published 1962]. Buddhist Monks and Monasteries of India: Their History and Their Contribution to Indian Culture. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. p. 371. ISBN 978-81-208-0498-2.
- ↑ Aitihasik Sthanavali by Vijayendra Kumar Mathur, p.994