Excerpt: On the Buddha’s Trail in Bangladesh by Sunita Dwivedi

In this extract, the author likens a Korean EPZ’s destruction of the probable site of the ancient Pandita Vihara to the destruction of Afghan Buddhist sites

In Search of the Vihara: Journey to Anowara

The 100-foot golden reclining Buddha at Vimukti Vihara, Ramu — the largest of its kind in Bangladesh and among the world’s tallest representations of Lord Buddha in parinirvana. (Shutterstock)

Although the Pandita Vihara was, according to several sources, situated somewhere in the Anowara area of Chittagong, there is no structure on the ground to identify the vihara. But the possibility of the monastery having survived below the earth cannot be ruled out, and explorations and excavations undertaken by archaeologists may bear fruit one day.

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However, the crucial discovery of the Buddhist hoard at Jhewari, Chittagong, could be an important clue to

Drone view of Shalbon Buddho Bihar in Mainamati, Comilla, Bangladesh. It dates back to the 7th-century. (Shutterstock)

According to the villagers, the territory of the vihara began near the golf course and once covered a vast area that is now overgrown with dense forests. We saw that several hills of Baruathan had been demolished by the EPZ to construct buildings, parks, and sports facilities. Since the EPZ had commenced its work, permits were required to enter the EPZ area. It is said that during the large scale digging work for new structures, numerous graves of Baruas were desecrated by the Korean authorities.

A resident of Baruathan confided that there was not even a trace of the famous monastery as the Korean company had taken up the entire Baruathan area for creating the infrastructure required for the economic zone, including the golf course. According to the residents of Baruathan, when the golf course was being laid out, workers found fragments of ancient Buddhist statuary art. No excavation was done before handing over the land to the Korean EPZ. The ruins of the monastery, which once functioned as a world class university, had been buried forever under the Korean EPZ.

We took a tour of the vast expanse of the Baruathan area where several structures were being built, and where the hillocks and mounds containing remains of the monastery were being demolished one after the other. Some thick forests, which had escaped the axe, were the habitat of elephants and foxes. Three large elephants were sighted in the forests of Baruathan while foxes roamed freely. About six foxes were sighted by us. Some had come out of the forests and were running along the roadside. Others sat in the middle of the road and ran to take shelter behind a bush on seeing us. I followed them with my camera and managed to click three of them.

The Paharpur Vihara stupa or the Somapura Mahavihara is in Paharpur, Bangladesh. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and was built by the Pala dynasty in the 8th-century CE. (Shutterstock)

The case of the Korean EPZ in building a sprawling company on the land of the ancient Pandita Vihara is akin to the destruction faced by the Afghan Buddhist site of Mes Aynak in Logar province, 70 kilometres from Kabul. The difference is that not much notice has been paid to the destruction of the Pandita Vihara by the Korean company that continues to expand the construction work at Anowara, at the cost of both Bangladesh and world Buddhist heritage.

…almost a year after I had scoured the streets of Baruathan in search of some remnants of the Pandita Vihara, a team of archaeologists from the Department of Archaeology dug out the first structures of the lost monastery. It was an exciting moment as layer after layer of ancient brick walls were uncovered in Viswamura village, close to the mouth of the Karnaphuli River not far from Jhewari village where the 61 Buddhist icons were recovered.

The team began excavations on 16 September 2023. This was the first excavation at Viswamura village of Baruathan Union led by esteemed archaeologist Dr Md Ataur Rahman, deputy director cum keeper, Ethnological Museum, Agrabad, Chittagong, along with Prof Dr Jinobodhi Bhikkhu of Chittagong University in search of the renowned Pandita Vihara that was believed to have been lost.

Significantly, the excavated site where the ancient structures have been exposed is outside the Korean EPZ. The excavations follow Dr Ataur Rahman’s earlier explorations at the site of ‘Bisho Mura’ (Viswamura) with the help of Reverend Jinobodhi Bhikkhu and the late dramatist Ahmed Kabir, when the ruins were finally identified on 27 October 2020 as a part of the ancient Buddhist vihara dating to the 3rd–5th centuries CE.

According to Dr Rahman, this was the first archaeological dig to unearth the vihara, and a clear idea about number of rooms, votive stupas, or recovery of images could be had only after the excavations were complete. A preliminary report of the excavations was expected to be submitted to the Department of Archaeology’s head office in July 2024…

Speaking to Reverend Jinabodhi Bhikkhu and Prof Mustafa Kamal Jatra of the University of Chittagong regarding the ongoing excavations at Viswamura, I learnt that the ancient brick structures appeared about fifteen hundred years old and were the ruins of five or six rooms of a vihara. More excavations in the next season could unearth images and antiquarian remains from the site. As for now, excavations have been halted. Deepak Barua of Baruathan, a witness to the excavations, reported monastic cells and traces of a pond being excavated so far. No stupa has been found as yet.

According to Debala Mitra, who conducted a detailed study of the bronze Buddhist icons from Jhewari, she favoured a thorough exploration at the village to ascertain if there were any remains of a Buddhist establishment lying buried at or near Jhewari. The exact location of the village is seven kilometres east of the mouth of the Karnaphuli River and a little over two kilometres southwest of Anowara Thana. Viswamura village is not far from the Karnaphuli; in fact, it is located in Karnaphuli upazila and quite close to Jhewari. The two villages of Viswamura and Jhewari must have once been part of the extensive residential institution of the Pandita Vihara, of which a few rooms and a pond have been unearthed in the recent excavation of 2024.

Author Sunita Dwivedi (Courtesy the publisher)

With the archaeological discovery of the long lost vihara, Viswamura village is now on the world Buddhist map! However, the final verdict will have to wait, as a very baffling situation emerged in August 2025 when I made efforts to contact the regional Department of Archaeology for the final report on the Viswamura excavations. Dr Mohd Ataur Rahman had been transferred to Dhaka and was unable to throw any light on the final report or extension of excavations at Viswamura.

I contacted local sources for the ground situation at Viswamura village and learnt that the excavations had been halted, the reason being that the landowner filed a case against the regional Department of Archaeology, and no further digging had taken place to unearth more structures. Another reason being given for halting all excavation is that since only a small structure has been exposed, it is doubtful whether it was ever a part of the great Pandita Vihara!