1,000-year-old Buddhist temple found in Bangladesh with links to venerated ancient scholar

The remains of an estimated 1,000-year-old temple and city have been found in Munshiganj District’s Bikrampur, one of the oldest archaeological sites in Bangladesh.

According to The Daily Star, an ancient Buddhist temple featuring unique architectural elements has been discovered 23 feet (seven meters) beneath the ground. Buddhist history sites the grounds as where Atish Dipankar (980-1053) is thought to have spent his early life. Dipankar is known as a venerated Buddhist scholar and philosopher born over a thousand years ago.

Portrait of Atish Dipankar (Atisha) From a Kadampa monastery,Tibet. Circa 1100. Public Domain

The Daily Star reports that archaeology professor Sufi Mustafizur Rahman of Jahangirnagar University, and research director of the project spoke at a press conference about the temple and excavation project.

In 2015 Rahman said, “This is one of the oldest archaeological sites in our country. We have collected a number of samples from here. After conducting carbon dating on them, we will be able to gather more information about the time when these structures were built.” And recently Xinhua has reported that the carbon-14 tests on 26 relics from the site have proven that it is more than 1,100 years old.