WARI BATESHWAR. FIFTY NEW BUDDHIST SITES.

Excavations at Wari Bateshwar

Presently being excavated near the ancient trading centre at Wari Bateshwar, near Narsingdi, just north of Dhaka, is a small vihara from perhaps the 7^th Century.

It appears to be just one of a number of such ‘mini’ vihara in the area, which has already been identified as being surrounded by up to 50 sites with Buddhist connections.

Archaeologist at Wari Bateshwar, near Narsingdi, have identified a small  Vihara

Each year understanding of this ancient site, which has tangible evidence of occupation dating back about 10,000 years, is improved. It helps, of course, that authorities at Cambridge University identify it with the 2^nd Century Ptolemaic city of Sounagora.  Finds include coinage dated from about 600 BCE as well as material of identifiably Roman origin, leading to the recognition that this was an ancient trading centre of some significance located as it is on the banks of the Brahmaputra River.  The city is enclosed within a 5.3km rampart and has a 600 metre square citadel within.

Digging through history at Wari Bateshwar, Bangladesh

The tally of identifiable Buddhist remains continues to mount, almost monthly, in what many experts now agree was, almost certainly, the ‘Cradle of Buddhism’.