Itakhola Mura Temple and Vihara: Archaeological Site of Comilla Mainamati
Itakhola Mura Temple and Vihara
Itakhola Mura Temple and Vihara is one of the most important archaeological sites of Mainamati located in Sadar Dakshin Upazila of Comilla District of Bangladesh. Comilla Cantonment College is about three kilometers ahead along the curved road called Comilla Kalir Bazar from the Kotbari-Highway Bus Stop on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway. This archaeological site is located on a hill in the western side of the college.
Archaeological excavations conducted by Department of Archaeology, Bangladesh at several times unearthed ruins of Buddhist temple and vihara in the site known as Itakhola Mura. The Buddhist temple is located at the southern part of the archaeological site and the Buddhist Vihara at the northern part. Whatever, the actual name of Itakhola Mura is not known.
According to myth, many bricks were found exposed in the open at this site for many years. Hence the local name of this place may had been Itakhola (bricks opened) and Mura means High place. It is believed that the Buddhist temple and vihara of Itakhola Mura were built during the rule of the Deva dynasty around the middle of the seventh to eighth century CE.
The Buddhist temple of Itakhola Mura was developed through the addition, removal and reconstruction of different structures at different times. Originally a stupa was built in the traditional style on a foundation at first. There is a small-scale worship hall in the center of this stupa. It is here that a damaged statue of Akshobhaya, made of lime-concretes, is found.
Later, the temple was expanded by adding, removing and rebuilding various structures. In particular, three new long and narrow bhajanalayas (that means small temples) were built on the eastern side, closing off the old stupa worship hall or the seat of the Akshobhaya statue. And as a result, the entire temple structure became rectangular in shape. The measurement of the rectangular temple is forty-one meters long and twenty-four meters wide. The bhajanalayas surrounding the temple were once closed. It was left only a few small chambers to keep the worshiping deity like in other parts of the temple.
A 2.6-meter-wide circumambulatory surrounds the temple and the remains of a 1.2-meter-wide boundary wall surround it. There is a long stair leading up to the temple from the walled courtyard. There are ruins of a stupa in the inner courtyard of the boundary wall and a stupa on the west side of the temple and one each corner on the east side. There are ruins of three stupas at the end of the long stair on the east side of the boundary wall.
The ruins of a Buddhist Vihara are located on Forty-five meters north side of the Buddhist temple at Itakhola Mura. Each side of the square Vihara is forty-nine meters long. The vihara has an open courtyard in the middle and nineteen chambers around the courtyard. The east facing vihara has a projecting entrance hall.
Different types of artefacts were found during archaeological excavations at this site. Among these, three round beads of pure gold and a copperplate are known as significant artefacts.
The mature and developed form of Itakhola Mura Buddhist temple and Vihara architecture is observed at Shalban Vihara in Comilla of Bangladesh, Paharpur in Naogaon of Bangladesh, Vikramshila in India and many other archaeological sites. The artefacts and structures discovered here are believed to date back to the seventh to eighth century CE, bearing the memories of ancient Bengal and Samatata.
On 7th July 1945, The Simla Gazette (under Ancient Monuments Preservation Act 1904) declared Itakhola Mura Temple and Vihara as a protected antiquity. It is currently a protected antiquity of the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, listed and supervised by the Department of Archaeology under the Ministry of Cultural Affairs of Bangladesh. In addition, on February 17, 1999, Itakhola Mura Buddhist Temple and Vihara is one of the archaeological sites included in the tentative list of UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site under the title The Lalmai Mainamati Group of monuments. [Md. Shahin Alam]
References:
1. Rashid, M. Harunur, Itakhola Mura;
2. The Lalmai – Mainamati Group of monuments;
3. Department of Archaeology, Bangladesh.
Follow Us in Our Youtube Channel: GEONATCUL