Miniature Replica Somapura Mahavihara

Miniature Replica, made of marble stone

Miniature replicas are the miniature version of the profound architectures, cultures or heritage sites of the countries. Hat Bakso has developed the Miniature Replica of unique artistic masterpiece, Somapura Mahavihara.

One of the most famous Buddhist monastic institutions of ancient Bengal, Somapura Mahavihara, was built by the second Pala king Dharmapala (c 781-821AD). It is situated in a village named Paharpur (Pahadpur) under the Badalgacchi Upazila of Naogaon district. This monastery flourished until the 11th century AD when it was destroyed by fire during an invasion by a vangala army, possibly the army of the Varman rulers of vanga.

Moreover, Somapura Mahavihara, which is natively known as Paharpur Buddhist Bihar is one of the most magnificent monument in Bangladesh. It is not only designated as an UNESCO World Heritage Site but also the second largest single Buddhist Monastery on South of the Himalayas. Various stone sculptures, terracotta plaques, copper plate, inscriptions on stone columns, coins, stucco images and metal images, ceramics etc. Objects been discovered from the site which beholds importance.

Surprisingly, the sculpture images represent Brahmanical faith excepting the only Buddhist image of Padmapani. These sculptures belongs to different periods respective to their style and artistic excellence. Some of the arts are technically coarse and imperfect, but its social content is intensely human, expressive to liveliness, and therefore artistically significant. Other structures represents more of Gupta classicism. Terracotta plaques play the most predominant part in the scheme of decoration of the walls of the temple.

The government of Bangladesh, in association with UNESCO, prepared a master plan in 1983 by an international mission and the sites were included in the World Cultural Heritage List in 1985. Subsequently a project was initiated in 1987 to implement the recommendations of the Master Plan, which continued in three phases and was completed in 2002. Hat Bakso has developed different miniature replicas of the prominent structures of Bangladesh among which Paharpur Buddhist Monastery represents the archaeological history of Bangladesh. Likewise, if you are looking for gifts, you can easily choose this mini showpiece as option here.