Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[name] => Itakhola Mura
[post_id] => 5524
[post_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/bn/places/itakhola-mura/
[thumb_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Itakhola-Mura31-300x240.jpg
[post_content] =>
Itakhola Mura is an archaeological site in Mainamati. This site is one of the most impressive ruins. It lies in three terraces on adjacent hillocks just opposite the Rupban Mura site across the Kotbari road in Comilla. Excavations have revealed here a grand stupa complex with an attached monastery, located 42m to its north. The cultural phases of the site are stated (or overstated) to be five; the earlier three being still buried underneath the later remains.
The Stupa Complex was originally built as a solid stupa in the traditional style on a 13.1 meter square basement. However, it has one peculiarity; a small sanctum (2.4 m x 2.1 m) built in the center of its eastern or front side.
Subsequently, the shrine was enlarged and elaborated by additions and alterations, especially by adding three long narrow chapels in the eastern side after blocking the old sanctum; thus giving the structure an oblong shape (41.4 m x 24m). In this particular feature, it is strikingly similar to the Rupban Mura shrine. The side chapels were ultimately blocked up, leaving space for a few cubicles for installing cult images, as in other parts of the shrine. This establishment is surrounded by a 2.6 m wide circumlocutory passage and is enclosed by a 1.2 m thick boundary wall.
This holy precinct is again enclosed within a much larger, well-defined, and better preserved boundary wall (79 m x 56 m), in the slightly lower second terrace. It contains three interesting subsidiary shrines, two in two corners of the eastern side, and the other, a slightly larger one, at the back in the west. An elaborate entrance with 22 broad steps at the Center of the eastern side leads to the much lower third terrace. The outer face of its damaged boundary wall in this front side is excellently decorated with offsets, sunken panels, and ornamental designs.
Five votive stupas lie at the base of the long staircase, three of them in a north south row within a well-defined enclosure, all semi-cruciform in shape, like that of the larger subsidiary shrines in the western side of the second terrace. They certainly represent an experimental early stage in the development of the cruciform style in Buddhist architecture that we see in mature form at shalvan vihara, paharpur, Vikramashila and many other sites. These structures may reasonably be dated as belonging to 7th-8th centuries AD.
The Monastery This medium sized monastery of the usual square shape with 19 cells and one entrance hall was built around an open courtyard, 16.2m. Square, on a separate mound. Its monumental gateway complex, 17.6m x 8.5m, projecting outwards, lies at the Centre of the eastern wing. Some of the cells have brick-built bedsteads. This structure was badly damaged by brick-hunters in 1944-45.
Mentionable antiquities from the site, besides the stucco image, are three round pellets of solid gold, (19 tolas), and a copperplate inscription, discovered during clearance work after the excavations. The copperplate has not yet been deciphered.
)
[1] => Array
(
[name] => Mondol Bari
[post_id] => 9321
[post_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/bn/places/mondol-bari/
[thumb_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/mondol-bari-1-300x169.jpg
[post_content] => Mondol Bari is about 300 years old house, Closed to Pulghata bridge & Dao Bari, Abdullapur, Tongibari.
It is an old house looks like a traditional Zamindar bari located in Munshiganj District. Its architectural characteristics is very similar to the other merchants house in Munshiganj region, which could be mentioned in name- Dao Bari, House of Tokani Pal, House of Choron Poddar, Old House of Makahati, House of Kamini Pal etc. It is being assumed that those palace like houses erected in contemporary time period. The owners of those palaces were mainly merchant.
)
[2] => Array
(
[name] => {:en}Ashrafpur Mosque{:}{:bn}আশরাফপুর মসজিদ{:}
[post_id] => 4267
[post_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/bn/places/ashrafpur-mosque/
[thumb_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSCN10881-300x225.jpg
[post_content] => {:en}Ashrafpur is an ancient village of Shibpur Upazila under Narsingdi district. In this village there was two seventh century’s copperplate inscription discovered. Ashrafpur Mosque is situated 1 kilometer south to the finding place of these copperplates. An inscribed stone of this Mosque,Once which was attached to the mosque and now preserved in the Bangladesh national museum, reveals that the mosque was built in 930 AH/ 1524 AD by Dilwar Khan during the reign of Sultan Nasiruddin Abul Muzaffar Nusrat Shah (1519-1532).
The mosque, ruined by the earthquake of 1897, was abandoned, prayer in it discontinued and in course of time it got shrouded by jungle. In 1940 the jungle was cleared and the mosque recovered under the leadership of Mowlana Syed Ali. Even at that time the Mihrab and a portion of the western wall was extant. It was a single domed small mosque built in the sultanate style. Later on, a three-domed modern mosque has been built on the same site where once stood the Sultani mosque.{:}{:bn}
আশরাফপুর গ্রামে যে স্থানে ৭ শতকের দুটো তাম্রফলক পাওয়া গিয়েছিল সেই স্থানের ১ কিলোমিটার দক্ষিনে আশরাফপুর মসজিদটি অবস্থিত। আশরাফপুর মসজিদের শিলালিপিটি বর্তমানে জাতীয় জাদুঘরে সংরক্ষিত আছে। শিলালিপি থেকে জানা যায় যে ৯৩০ হিজরী এবং ১৫২৪ খ্রিস্টাব্দে সুলতান নাসিরউদ্দিন আবুল মুজাফফর নুসরাত শাহ এর শাসনামলে (১৫১৯-১৫৩২) জনৈক দিলওয়ার খান এই মসজিদটি নির্মাণ করিয়েছিলেন।
১৮৯৭ সালের ভয়াবহ ভুমিকম্পে ক্ষতিগ্রস্থ হবার পর মসজিদটিকে পরিত্যাক্ত করা হয় এবং ধীরে ধীরে মসজিদটি জঙ্গলে ঢেকে যায়। ১৯৪০ সালে মওলানা সৈয়দ আলীর নেতৃত্বে জঙ্গল পরিষ্কারের পর মসজিদটিকে উদ্ধার করা হয়। সেসময় মসজিদের মিহরাব এবং পশ্চিমদিকের দেয়ালের অস্তিত্ব ছিল। এক গম্বুজ বিশিষ্ট ছোট এই মসজিদটি সুলতানাত শৈলীতে নির্মাণ করা হয়েছিল। পরবর্তীতে এই মসজিদের স্থানেই একটি তিন গম্বুজ বিশিষ্ট আধুনিক মসজিদ নির্মাণ করা হয়।
আশরাফপুরের তাম্রফলকের অভিলিখন:
নরসিংদী জেলার শিবপুর উপজেলায় অবস্থিত আশরাফপুর গ্রামটি প্রত্নতাত্ত্বিক নিদর্শনের জন্য খুবই গুরুত্বপূর্ণ। ১১৮৫ সালে মিয়া বখশ খান নামের একজন গ্রামবাসী এখানে একটি মাটির স্তূপ থেকে ৭ শতকের দুটি তাম্রফলকের সন্ধান পান। তাম্রফলকের অভিলিখন থেকে জানা যায় খাডগা বংশের জনৈক দেবখাডগা এখানকার বৌদ্ধ সংঘ এবং বিহারকে কিছু জমি দান করেছিলেন। এখানে মাটি খনন করে কিছু প্রাচীন ইট এবং একটি ধ্বংসপ্রাপ্ত দেয়ালের অংশবিশেষও উদ্ধার করা হয়।
এই স্থানে আনুষ্ঠানিকভাবে খননকাজ করা না হলেও মানুষের বসতি নির্মাণের সময় কিছু খনন করার প্রয়োজন হয়েছিল। ইতিহাসবিদরা মনে করেন এখানে অবস্থিত বৌদ্ধ বিহারটি ছিল অত্র অঞ্চলে বৌদ্ধ ধর্ম চর্চা এবং শিক্ষার একটি কেন্দ্র।
{:}
)
[3] => Array
(
[name] => Rupban Mura
[post_id] => 5535
[post_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/bn/places/rupban-mura/
[thumb_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC096821-201x300.jpg
[post_content] =>
Locally this site is known as “Rupban Mura”. After excavation, the sign of a shrine, a monastery and an octagonal votive stupa were found. Among the antiquities, one Gupta imitation gold coin, 04 coins of debased metal, 3 silver coins and a bulky sand stone, Buddha image of post gupta period are mention worthy. On the basis of all the evidences found here, the original monastery and shrine may be dated prior to the 8th Century A.D.
Rupban Mura an important archaeological site of Mainamati lying on a hillock just between the modern BARD and BDR establishments in the Kotbari area on the south of the Comilla-Kalirbazar road. Excavations have revealed here the remains of a remarkable semi-cruciform shrine of medium size (28.2m east - west, 28m north - south), together with a number of subsidiary structures, including an octagonal stupa and another one on a square base. A boundary wall within the oblong stupa courtyard encloses all these. Its regular entrance is on the east, facing the monastery entrance. Deep diggings have revealed three main periods of building and repairs and rebuilding, the earliest corresponding to c.6th-7th centuries AD. Very few remains of the latest period (10th-11th century AD) survive now in this very heavily disturbed site.
The Cruciform Shrine Originally built as a solid stupa on a square base, it was subsequently converted into a semi-cruciform shrine in the second period (8th century AD). It has a peculiarity not noticed elsewhere. Instead of a single chapel built in each of the long arm of the cross, a group of three long narrow chapels was built in the eastern (front) side of the shrine.
In the middle chapel the colossal stone Buddha, now exhibited in Mainamati Museum, was discovered. The same peculiarity is noticed in the adjacent Itakhola Mura grand stupa, also on the eastern side facing the entrance. Fragments of bronze images found in other chapels suggest installation of such images there.
The Monastery The small 34.1m square monastery of the site was built separately, 31m.The South-east of the cruciform stupa. It has a prominent gateway complex (12.5m x 6.9m) projecting outwards in the middle of the northern wing. Built in the usual square plan, it originally had a total of 24 cells in four wings, subsequently reduced to 18 in the second period. The southern wing, occupying an area of 11.7m, was abandoned, due certainly too irreparable damages, and a row of new cells was built in its front, thus making the shape of the monastery oblong (34.1m x 24.8m). Corbelled niches and brick-built bedsteads can be noticed in the 2nd period cells. A broad corbelled drain was built in the courtyard to drain out rainwater. Significant discoveries from the site include, besides the colossal stone Buddha, five debased gold coins of Balabhatta, the Khadga ruler.
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