Mainamati

Antiquities dug up from Mainamati ridge have established its value as a potential archaeological site. The copper plate inscription of Ranavankamalla Harikaladeva was discovered as early as 1803. In 1875 ruins of what was supposed to be a small 'brick fort' was discovered in the Kotbari mound, along with some typical Mainamati terracotta plaques. It was, in fact, another monastery. Surprisingly Cunningham never visited the site. Francis Buchanan however visited it at the end of the 18th century. NK Bhattasali made a tour of Mainamati in 1917 and reported his findings in his Iconography of Buddhist and Brahmancial Sculptures in the Dacca Museum (1929).

However, during the Second World War the Archaeological Survey of India, under its superintendent TN Ramachandran, carried out an investigation and a limited rescue operation in order to save the remains from the vandalism of military contractors On his recommendation, 20 sites were protected. Ramachandran's illuminating report was published in BC Law Volume, pt II, in 1946. Meanwhile, the partition of India took place. The Pakistan Department of Archaeology very wisely took a cue from Ramachandran. In the thorough survey that followed, about 55 ancient sites were listed that could still be traced scattered through the entire length of the Lalmai ridge. Continuous excavations followed from 1955 and still going on. These excavations have helped in revealing important and unknown facts of southeastern Bangladesh's political, economic, religious and art history and the evolution of Buddhist religious architecture in the eastern-most corner of the subcontinent before its extinction. Barrie M Morrison, an American scholar, investigated the ruins in the early sixties of the 20th century and published the results in 1974 in a thought-provoking book called Lalmai - A Cultural Center of Early Bengal.

So far only nine sites have been excavated and some excavations are ongoing. They are shalvan vihara, kutila mura, charpatra mura, Ranir Bangalow, ananda vihara, itakhola mura, rupban mura, bhoja vihara and mainamati mound 1A. Although Ramachandran did not attach any special importance to the Shalvan Raja's Palace Mound (now called Shalvan Vihara) FA Khan, the then Director of Archaeology in Pakistan, wisely chose it for his first excavations. The results obtained later amply justified his choice. On the whole, Mainamati has been extremely prolific in the yield of cultural material but Shalvan Vihara, identified as Bhavadeva Mahavihara on the basis of a sealing, in particular has proved to be a treasure house of inscriptions, coins and terracotta plaques.

Of the thirteen (14 if we include the Harikaladeva copperplate retrieved in 1803) copper plates recovered from Mainamati excavations no less than eight were from Shalvan Vihara, four from Charpatra Mura and one probably from Ananda Vihara. Of the nearly 400 coins found at Mainamati about 350 were collected from Shalvan Vihara, which included a few gold coins of the Guptas, Devas and the Khadgas. The number of bronze miniatures excavated from Shalvan Viharas is also considerable. In contrast to Paharpur where the largest number of stone sculptures and terracotta plaques in any one site in Bangladesh has been found, an astounding number of inscriptions, coins and miniature bronzes have been hauled from Mainamati, unequalled for any one ancient site not only in Bengal, but perhaps in the entire subcontinent. What is more important, however, is that not only in sheer number but also in significance they are unparalleled. The inscriptions belong to no less than five dynasties (Guptas, Khadgas, Devas, Chandras, and later Devas), and in some cases introduce us to new dynasties and kingdoms not known before, like the Devas. Altogether the discoveries from Mainamati - inscriptions and coins, sculptures and architecture - have changed the concept of the history of south-east Bengal between c 6th and 13th centuries AD. Not only its political history but also the area's artistic, religious and economic history have been illuminated by the finds.

In the case of the Shalvan Vihara excavations, for instance more than 300 coins - gold, silver (bulk), and copper - testify to the use a regular currency. This has revolutionised our long held idea about Bengal's currency system, which was based for long on the absence of Pala and Sena coins. It now appears that at least the southeastern part of Bengal had a flourishing currency system that incidentally also indicates a flourishing economic life. Also, the fact of the discovery of the Pattikera and Harikela silver coins side by side at Shalvan Vihara has helped clarify our understating of both the coinages.

These excavations have revealed several kinds of Buddhist religious architecture including the cruciform type that we have already discussed. Among this type at Mainamati, the Ananda Vihara was the largest. If the Vihara was named after the third Deva king, who it seems now had ruled sometime in the middle of the 8th century, then among the cruciform temples his was perhaps the earliest, and perhaps it was even earlier than the ones in Paharpur.

The three other notable architectural varieties are represented by the Kutila Mura ruins, which have three traditional type stupas in a row, each having a chaitya hall in front. The Kutila Mura complex has been called a Ratna-traya (Buddhist, Three Jewels) type stupa. This may be the earliest establishment on the hills, going back perhaps to Khadga times, that is to say, mid-7th century to mid-8th century AD. There are reasons to believe that the last quarter of the 7th century may be the probable date for the Kutila Mura stupas. Kutila Mura is significant since portions of the original superstructures of the stupas are still standing. Rupban Mura is also noteworthy in this respect since a very small part of the original superstructure in the shape of a corbelled roof in one of the image chambers is still intact, and is the only example of the type among the ancient remains of Bangladesh.

The other two notable architectural types are the Charpatra Mura and the Itakhola Mura. Charpatra Mura is the findspot of an inscription of Ladahachandra, the Chandra king. There is a possibility that Charpatra Mura was a Hindu Vaishnava temple dedicated to Ladahamadhava.

No account of Mainamati will be complete without reference to the three marvels recently discovered; two of metallurgical skill and one of stone sculpture. The stone sculpture is a standing Buddha image discovered in the Rupban Mura excavations. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that this is the only sculpture approximating the classical Gupta Buddha image in Bangladesh, or for that matter, Bengal as a whole. The other two marvels are a bronze colossal Vajrasattva image discovered in the ruins of Bhoja Vihara in 1994 and a huge bell found at Rupban Kanya Mura. The 1.5m high sitting Vajrasattva is a wonder of bronze casting dating probably to 10th -11th century AD. Of the same kind, but mutilated, (since only the head being preserved), is part of another bronze image, a large life-size bronze head of Boddhisattva Avalokiteshvara which has traces of gold plating on the polished surface. This was collected from the Bairagi Mura mound. The bronze bell's estimated weight is about half a ton. This can also be dated to the 10th -11th century AD.