Gandheswari Temple
To the southwest ghat at a distance of 12.20m there lies an isolated structure locally known as the Temple as the Temple of Gandhesvari. the russet, and bricks with floral pattern used in the front wall and also the mortar used between the joints of bricks clearly indicates that this building was erected during the Muslim period. It is a rectangular hall measuring 6.70m E-W and 3.35m N-S with an octagonal pillar base in the centre. There is a projection in the middle of the western wall consisting of a small room about 1.5m square. In front of the building there is a circular platform 7.3m in diameter with a brick-on-edge floor.
Satyapir Bhita
A cluster of structural remains, locally called Satyapir Bhita is situated about 300m east of the eastern wing of the monastery. The compound is trapezoidal in shape being the north, south, east and west boundaries are 57m, 47m, 76m, and 91m in length, respectively. The vita contains the remains of a Tara temple and the vast number of votive stupas around it. The approach to the area and to the main temple was on the south, now missing.
The main temple lies in the northern region of the compound. The oblong south facing building measures 24.38m N-S and 14.6 E-W. It consists of two parts, the main shrine or sanctum in the north and a pillared hall or mandapa on the south. An ambulatory passage was built around the latter one. Beyond this there was a porch from which a flight of stairs led to the paved to the court in front. The temple was reconstructed several times, the last one being in Muslim period. In course of the reconstruction some early structures were covered, buttress walls were built and a new concrete floor was laid almost throughout the courtyard and over the main temple.
Around the main temple there are 132 votive stupas. They present a wide variety of square, rectangular and circular structures of various dimensions and scheme of decoration. The largest one is a circular stupa of about 7.5 diameter to the northwest of original temple while the smallest one is only 80cm in diameter. In the eastern side there are two rows of 14 and 7 stupas respectively, of identical size (3.4) and shape with a narrow pathway between them. To the south of the main temple there is another row containing 9 stupas. It is assumed that pilgrims in course of their visit to perform their ritual performances built these votive stupas.
Among the movable antiquities, unearthed at Satyapirer Bhita, the following are of immense value. They are figurines of mother goddesses resembling to Tara and god Jambala, seals and sealings bearing Mahayana creed, balls and beads made of semi-precious stones, fragmentary terracotta plaques, terracotta finials belonging to votive stupas, ornamental brick pieces, sherds of multicrome glaze tiles bearing floral as well as creeper designs in either violet or white colors. The discovery of the figurines of Tara, particularly Sitatpatra Tara, and sealing’s bearing Mahayana slokas coupled with the records found in a Nalanda copper plate evince that the building located at satyapir Bhita was originally a temple built in honour o Tara by some Vipulesrimitra who, according to the reading of some Nalanda inscriptional reading of some A Nalanda inscriptional evidences, lived in the 12th century AD.
Architectural Remains Of The Post-Liberation Excavations
Apart from confirming Dikshit’s findings in the cells, the Post-Liberation excavations have yielded some new and unexpected results which are very fascinating and important. Firstly, the remains of another phase of the monastery, probably the monastery of an earlier period, have been unearthed below Dikshit’s original monastery. It appears that the dimension as well as the alignment of the earlier monastery was same as that of the later vihara. The builders used this original monastery for quite some time. But subsequently the earlier floors were totally removed and the partition walls were destroyed and new ones were built. Thus at one time the whole arrangement of the cells was changed. In course of this reconstruction either at places the builders almost entirely almost entirely removed the earlier partition walls and built completely new ones or damaged the earlier ones at their upper levels and kept the lower parts undisturbed over which built new ones.The earlier cells measured 4.87m.×3.96m in average. It clearly indicates that the cells of the earlier structure were larger than those of the upper i.e., Dikshit’s first phase monastery. Thus in later period the number of cells was increased.
Secondly, in some limited areas the structural remains (brick walls, terracotta ring wells) and cultural materials (huge number of ceramics) were brought to light underlying the monastery as well as temple. Due to very restricted exposure of these remains their nature could not be ascertained. It is worth quoting that Dikshit discovered 3 periods in the monastic cells and 4 periods in the central temple. Ther recent excavations have discovered 1 more period in the monastery. Hence total 4 periods of the monastery (one of original and three of later period) correspond with those of the central temple. Now, the question arises: which monastery was built by Dharmapala? Is the recently exposed earlier period monastery or the monastery discovered by Dikshit? Here it is interesting to note that, Dikshit believed that originally there was a Jaina monastery at Paharpur of which no traces have survived. The Somapura Mahavihara founded by King Dharmapala in the last quarter of the 8th century AD would then have succeeded this Jaina institution. Almost all subsequent authors have accepted this hypothesis of Dikshit. Could it therefore now be suggested that these recently discovered remains underlying the monastery belong to the Jaina establishment To ascertain it we need further extensive excavation inside and outside the monastic complex.
Antiquities
The excavations have yielded a rich collection of antiquities. Of them the most important ones are copper plate, inscribed stone pillars, coins, stone sculptures, terracotta plaques, stucco heads, clay seals and sealings, ornamental bricks, semi-precious stone beads and pottery. Their brief description is given below.
Terracotta Plaques
The numerous specimens of antiquity from the site were the terracotta plaques, the majority of which, about 2000, were in situ on the temple wall and about 800 were registered loose during excavation. Recently 907 original plaques have been replaced in the walls by the new ones. Majority of the plaques is contemporaneous with the building. These plaques played the most important role in the scheme of decoration of the temple walls. But they are set in the walls without any coherent sequence. Size and shape of the plaques are not uniform. Some are square (18cm) while most of them are rectangular in shape. Some are unusually 40×30×6 cm. These plaques primarily represent the folk art of Bangladesh. Their subject matter includes Buddhist and Barhminical deities, mythology, divine and semi-divine beings, men, women, and children engaged in various activities, musicians, dancers, warriors, acrobats, ploughmen, animals, birds, fishes trees, plants, and flowers and a variety of other objects. It appears that the artisans were fully responsive to their environment and almost every conceivable subject of ordinary life has been depicted on the plaques.
The Brahmanical as well as the Buddhist gods are equally illustrated in the plaques. They are the principal varieties of Siva and other Brahmanical gods like Brahma, Vishnu, Ganesa and Surya. Buddhist deities, mostly of the Mahayana School of Buddhism, including Boshisattava Padamapani, Manjusri and Tara are found at various spots. Well-known stories from the Panchatantra, the Ramayana, and the Mahabharata also are well represented. The post liberation excavation at the site yielded a terracotta head of Gupta idiom.
