Sitakot Vihara ( bn, সীতাকোট বিহার ''Sitakot Vihara'')is an archaeological site located in Nawabganj upazila in
Dinajpur
Dinajpur ( bn, দিনাজপুর ) is a city and the District headquarters of Dinajpur district situated in Rangpur Division, Bangladesh. It was founded in 1786. It is located 413 km north-west of Dhaka in Bangladesh. It is bounde ...
district of
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...
. The site is locally known as the residence of Sita. Through regular excavations in the years 1968 and 1972–1973, an ancient Buddhist monastery was discovered in the site. The monastery dates from a similar time period to the nearby
Somapura Mahavihara
Somapura Mahavihara ( bn, সোমপুর মহাবিহার, Shompur Môhabihar) in Paharpur, Badalgachhi, Naogaon, Bangladesh is among the best known Buddhist viharas or monasteries in the Indian Subcontinent and is one of the mo ...
and
Halud Vihara
Halud Vihara is west-southwest from the World Heritage Site of Somapura Mahavihara, at Pahapur in the Naogaon District of Bangladesh.The main feature of the site is "a large mound 100 feet across and 25 feet high",
On the northern and southern sides there was large open space inside the boundary. The outer gateway was in the northern side and there were two guard rooms inside the boundary. The inner gateway entered to an entrance hall. The hall is attached with monastic cells. There were 41 cells in this monastery: 8 in the northern wing and 11 cells each in the three other wings. The cells were almost equal in size (3.66 m by 3.35 m). The thickness of the front walls of the cells were 1.07 m, back walls 2.59 m and partition walls 0.91-1.22 m. Each cell has a doorway in front side and niches on three side walls.
A 2.59 meter wide verandah ran through the perimeter of the monastery and the cells were connected to it through a doorway of 1.68 meter length and 1.07 meter width.
There is a courtyard in the middle of the monastery that measure 42.38 meter *41.16 meter. Three rooms located in the middles of east, west and south wings were used as prayer rooms.
Artifacts found
Two bronze images were found on the site. One is of Bodhisattva Padmapani and the other of Bodhisattva Manjushri. Ink pots, terra cotta toys, ornamental bricks, and a lot of pot shards were also unearthed during the excavation.
Protection
The site is under protection of the Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Bangladesh. The site is not well maintained and restoration work is needed.
See also
*
Somapura Mahavihara
Somapura Mahavihara ( bn, সোমপুর মহাবিহার, Shompur Môhabihar) in Paharpur, Badalgachhi, Naogaon, Bangladesh is among the best known Buddhist viharas or monasteries in the Indian Subcontinent and is one of the mo ...
