The Sabhyata Dwar or Civilization Gate is a

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

arch An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

located on the banks on

River Ganga The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

in the city of

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

in the

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, for a total of 36 subnational entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into 800 districts and smaller administrative divisions by the respe ...

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

. The Sabhyata Dwar is built with a Mauryan-style architecture with a purpose to show the ancient glory of

Pataliputra Pataliputra (IAST: ), adjacent to modern-day Patna, Bihar, was a city in ancient India, originally built by Magadha ruler Ajatashatru in 490 BCE, as a small fort () near the Ganges river.. Udayin laid the foundation of the city of Pataliput ...

and traditions and culture of the state of Bihar. The monument was first envisioned by the former

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Srinivas Kumar Sinha Lieutenant General Srinivas Kumar Sinha, PVSM, ADC (7 January 1926 – 17 November 2016) was an Indian Army General who served as the Vice Chief of Army Staff. After his retirement, he served as Governor of the states of Jammu and Kashmir, ...

. The high structure is taller than

Gateway of India The Gateway of India is an arch-monument completed in 1924 on the waterfront of Mumbai (Bombay), India. It was erected to commemorate the landing of George V for his coronation as the Emperor of India in December 1911 at Strand Road near We ...

by and was built at a cost of ₹ 5

crore Crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes the quantity ten million (107) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. In many international contexts, the decimal quantity is formatted as 10,000,000, but when used in the context of the India ...

(50 million). The monument is spread over an area of one acre within the campus of

Samrat Ashok International Convention Centre The Samrat Ashok Convention Centre is a convention centre on North Gandhi Maidan Marg, Patna, Bihar with an estimated budget of 490 crore. The foundation stone of the centre was laid by Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar on 8 February 201 ...

. The arches of the Dwar contain inscriptions attributed to

Megasthenes Megasthenes ( ; , died 290 BCE) was an ancient Greek historian, indologist, diplomat, ethnographer and explorer in the Hellenistic period. He described India in his book '' Indica'', which is now lost, but has been partially reconstructe ...

Ashoka Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was List of Mauryan emperors, Emperor of Magadha from until #Death, his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynast ...

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

and

Mahavira Mahavira (Devanagari: महावीर, ), also known as Vardhamana (Devanagari: वर्धमान, ), was the 24th ''Tirthankara'' (Supreme Preacher and Ford Maker) of Jainism. Although the dates and most historical details of his lif ...

Bihar Chief Minister The chief minister of Bihar serves as the head of the Government of Bihar, overseeing its administration and governance within the constitutional framework of India. While the Governor of Bihar holds the ceremonial role of the constitutional h ...

Nitish Kumar Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician who has been serving as the 22nd chief minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previously held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. He is Bihar's longest ...

inaugurated the monument on 21 May 2018.

History

The idea for constructing a Gateway of India like structure was pitched by the former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Retired Lieutenant General Srinivas Kumar Sinha (SK Sinha) in 2010. SK Sinha suggested the idea to build a Sabhyata Dwar (Civilisation Gate) near the residence of City

Superintendent of Police Superintendent (Supt) is a rank in the British police and in most English-speaking Commonwealth nations. In many Commonwealth countries, the full version is superintendent of police (SP). The rank is also used in most British Overseas Territori ...

on the banks of River Ganga to show how the river port of Pataliputra attracted people from across the world.

Construction

On 8 February 2014, foundation stone of Samrat Ashok International Convention Centre was laid by the then Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar of which the Sabhyata Dwar was a part of. The plan of the building was drawn by a

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

based firm. Construction of the monument was done by the building and construction department of the

Bihar government The chief minister of Bihar serves as the head of the Government of Bihar, overseeing its administration and governance within the constitutional framework of India. While the Governor of Bihar holds the ceremonial role of the constitutional ...

. On 21 May 2018, Sabhyata Dwar was inaugurated by the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The cost of construction of the project is 5 crore (50 million).

Structure and appearance

The Sabhyata Dwar is built on an area of one acre within the campus of Samrat Ashok International Convention Centre, north of

Gandhi Maidan Gandhi Maidan is a historic ground in Patna, near the banks of the Ganges River, in Bihar, India. The Golghar falls to its west. During the period of 1824–1833, under British rule, it was used as a golf course and horse racing track and was ...

. At high the structure is taller than Gateway of India () and

Golghar The Golghar or Gol Ghar (गोलघर), ("Round House") is a large granary located to the west of the Gandhi Maidan in Patna, capital city of Bihar state, India. History According to a contemporary inscription at its base, the Golghar in ...

(). The Dwar faces Ganga on its northern side. It consists of two arches built with Mauryan architecture with a smaller arch on either side. The structure is constructed from red and white sandstones. Atop the arch monument is a small

stupa In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and '' śarīra''—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and m ...

upon which rests Ashoka's four-sided lion capital made from alloyed metal. The northern and southern faces of the arches contain inscriptions attributed to Megasthenes, Ashoka, Buddha and Mahavira.

References

{{Patna Monuments and memorials in Bihar Tourist attractions in Patna Buildings and structures in Patna Triumphal arches Memorials to Ashoka 2018 establishments in Bihar

History

Construction

Structure and appearance

See also

References