Shalban Vihara (শালবন বিহার)

Shalban Vihara is the excavated ruin of an 8th-century Buddhist monastery at Moinamoti (Mainamati), about 8 kilometres west of Cumilla town in eastern Bangladesh. It sits in the middle of the Lalmai hill ridge and suits anyone interested in early Buddhist Bengal, especially travellers already visiting Paharpur or other monastery sites.

Founded by Bhava Deva of the Deva dynasty

Bhava Deva, the fourth ruler of the early Deva dynasty, founded the monastery. It stood in or near Devaparvata, the capital of the Samatata kingdom, on the edge of the Lalambi forest. The site was long known as Shalban Rajar Bari, the king's residence at Shalban. Excavations found terracotta seals and copper plates that showed it was a residential Buddhist monastery, and it was renamed Shalban Vihara.

115 monk cells around a cross-shaped shrine

The monastery is a square of about 550 feet on each side, on the same plan as Paharpur. Its 115 cells for monks line a wide courtyard, with a monumental gateway on the north. A cross-shaped central shrine dominates the middle, with smaller shrines, stupas and chapels around it.

The central shrine went through six building phases and the monastery four. The first two phases of the shrine lie buried under phases three to five, and the remains of phase six have been removed from the top. The cross-shaped shrine of the third phase was built together with the monastery as one complex. Excavated objects date from the 7th to the 12th centuries, and a recently found well can be seen on site.

Kutila Mura and other Mainamati sites nearby

The Mainamati-Lalmai range holds more than 50 Buddhist settlements from the 8th to 12th centuries. Kutila Mura, a group of stupas about 5 kilometres north, is the easiest to add to a visit. Plan around 1.5 to 2 hours for Shalban itself and longer if you add other mounds.