Historical Geography of Ancient India c8.386

c8.386

Pāhāḍpur.—Somapura has been identified with Pāhārpur in the Dinajpur district of Bengal (Nalanda Inscription of Vipulaśrimitra, E.I., XXI, Pt. III, July, 1931). The huge mound of bricks, 80 ft. in height, that stands at Pāhāḍpur, probably gave rise to the name of this place as it looked like a rock. There was a monastery named after Dharmapāla at Somapura, identified with Pāhāḍpur by Dikshit. The monastery at Pāḍāḍpur is the biggest one that was ever erected in India for the Buddhist monks. It was built in the 8th century A.D. under the Pāla kings of Bengal. The most numerous specimens of antiquity from Pāhāḍpur are the terra-cotta plaques. The Brahmanical and Buddhist gods are equally found here. The Brahmanical gods represented in them are Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Gaṇeśa, and possibly Sūrya. The place must have gained considerable importance as a seat of Buddhism in Northern India during the Pāla period.