Jagaddala Mahavihara

Jagaddala Mahavihara

জগদ্দল মহাবিহার
Ruins of Jagaddala Mahavihara
Shown within Bangladesh Show map of Bangladesh Jagaddala Mahavihara (South Asia) Show map of South Asia
Location	Naogaon, Rajshahi, Bangladesh
Coordinates	25°9′32″N 88°53′15″E / 25.15889°N 88.88750°E / 25.15889; 88.88750
Type	Vihāra, Ancient University
History
Founded	Late 11th century
Abandoned	1207
Cultures	Buddhism

Part of a series on the
History of Bangladesh
Etymology Timeline Traditional Urheimat
Ancient Neolithic, c. 7600 – c. 3300 BCE Bronze Age, c. 3300 – c. 1200 BCE Iron Age, c. 1200 – c. 200 BCE Janapada, c. 1200 – c. 600 BCE Northern Black Polished Ware, c. 700 – c. 200 BCE Pundra kingdom, c. 700 – c. 200 BCE Bengal in Mahabharata, c. 400 – c. 325 BCE Gangaridai kingdom, c. 350 – c. 325 BCE Mauryan Empire, c. 325 – c. 185 BCE Samatata kingdom, c. 232 BCE – c. 800 AD Shunga–Kushan Period, c. 185 BCE – c. 75 AD Southwestern Silk Road, c. 114 BCE – c. 1450 AD Indo-Roman trade relations, c. 30 BCE – c. 600 AD
Classical Gupta Empire, c. 240 – c. 550 AD Harikela kingdom, c. 600 - c. 650 Gauda Kingdom, c. 590 – c. 626 Gour (Sylhet), c. 600 – c. 1303 Khadga dynasty, c. 650 – c. 750 Pala Empire, c. 750 – c. 1100 Arrival of Islam, c. 800 – c. 1050 Candra dynasty, c. 900 – c. 1050 Sena dynasty, c. 1070 – c. 1320 Deva dynasty, c. 1100 – c. 1250
Mediaeval Bhulua (Noakhali), c. 1203 – c. 1600s Delhi Sultanate, c. 1204 – c. 1338 Mamluk Dynasty Khalji Dynasty Tugluq Dynasty Sonargaon Sultanate, c. 1338 – c. 1352 Bengal Sultanate, c. 1352 – c. 1576 Ilyas Shahi dynasty Hussain Shahi dynasty Karrani dynasty Suri Dynasty, c. 1540 – c. 1556 Twelve Bhuyans, c. 1550 – c. 1620 Porto Grande de Bengala, c. 1528 – c. 1666 Chittagong-Arakan Kingdom, c. 1530 – c. 1666 Mughal Empire, c. 1576 – c. 1717 Bengal Subah
Modern Nawabs of Bengal, c. 1717 – c. 1757 Company Raj, c. 1757 – c. 1858 Bengal famine of 1770 Faraizi Movement, c. 1818 – c. 1884 The Great Rebellion, c. 1857 – c. 1858 British Raj, c. 1858 – c. 1947 Bengal Renaissance Partition of Bengal (1905) Eastern Bengal and Assam Bengal famine of 1943 Prime Minister of Bengal Noakhali riots East Bengal, c. 1947 – c. 1955 Partition of Bengal (1947) East Bengali refugees Bengali Language Movement East Pakistan, c. 1955 – c. 1971 1964 East Pakistan riots Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Six Point Movement 1969 uprising in East Pakistan Pakistani general election, 1970 Non-cooperation movement, 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, c. 1971 Declaration of Independence Provisional Government of Bangladesh 1971 Bangladesh Genocide (Rape) Bangladesh Forces Surrender of Pakistan
Contemporary Post-independence years, 1972 – 1975 Bangladesh famine of 1974 Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Jail Killing Day Military rule, 1975 – 1990 Military coups in Bangladesh Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict 1990 Mass Uprising Transition to democracy, 1991 – 2008 Caretaker government of Bangladesh Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord 2006–08 Bangladeshi political crisis Parliamentary era, 2009–2024 Vision 2021 and Digital Bangladesh Bangladesh Rifles revolt 2013 Shapla Square protests 2013 Bangladesh quota reform movement International Crimes Tribunal 2015 Bangladeshi political crisis 2018 Bangladesh road-safety protests 2018 Bangladesh quota reform movement 2021 Bangladesh Communal Violence Smart Bangladesh Bangladesh protests (2022–2024) Student–People's uprising Interim Government era, 2024–present Yunus ministry
Related articles Timeline of Bangladeshi history Bangladeshi art Bengali literature
Bangladesh portal
v t e

Jagaddala Mahavihara (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.^[1] It was founded by the later kings of the Pāla dynasty, probably Ramapala (c. 1077-1120),^[2] 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.^[3] Some texts also spell the name Jaggadala.

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-Malda region: in Panchagarh; in Haripur Upazila of Thakurgaon; in Bochaganj Upazila in Dinajpur; in Dhamoirhat Upazila of Naogaon; Bamangola block of Malda, India.^[4] 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.

A large number of monasteries or viharas were established in ancient Bengal and Magadha during the four centuries of Pala rule in Northeast India (756-1174 AD). Dharmapala (781-821) is said to have founded 50 viharas himself,^[4] 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).^[1] According to Tibetan sources, five great Mahaviharas stood out: Vikramashila; Nalanda, past its prime but still illustrious; Somapura; Odantapurā; and Jagaddala.^[5] 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.^[6]

Jagaddala specialized in Vajrayana Buddhism. A large number of texts that would later appear in the Kangyur and Tengyur were known to have been composed or copied at Jagaddala.^[7] 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.^[8]

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.^[9]

In 1999 Jagaddala was submitted as a tentative site for inclusion on the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites.^[2] UNESCO reports that excavations have 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.^[3]

• 
  Ruins of Jagaddala Mahavihara
• 
  Jagaddala Mahavihara is the only Buddhist vihara identified & excavated in Bangladesh which has a rooftop of around 60 cm thickness.
• 
  Fallen stone pillars

• List of archaeological sites in Bangladesh
• History of Bangladesh