Month: May 2021

The vast ruins wall of Mahasthangarh (মহাস্থানগড়) is a silent witness to the glorious history of Pundranagar (Pundranagara), the capital of Paundravardhanapura, which has a glorious history of nearly two and a half thousand years. The ruins are located on the west bank of the river Karatoya River, 13 km north of Bogura district town. Location: Mahasthangarh, the oldest city of Pundravardhana, Shibganj, Bogra. This fortified city, the foremost and oldest in the whole of Bengal, is protected by a periodic earthen and brick enclosure wall which is 1525 m long in the north-south and 1370 m wide in the east-west and 5 m high from the surrounding plains. In addition to the Wall, rivers on the east and deep trenches on the other three sides have been used as additional defenses. Archaeological evidence suggests that for several centuries it was the provincial capital of the mighty Maurya, Gupta and Pala rulers, and later the Hindu parallel kings. Outside the fort, within 7/8 km of the north, west, south and southwest, there are still many ancient monuments of various kinds which bear witness to the sub-city. It is to be noted that the famous Chinese traveler Xuanzang (Hiouen Thsang) visited Pundranagara during his travels in India (639-645). The eminent British archaeologist Sir Alexander Cunningham accurately identified the ruins of Mahasthan Garh in 1879 AD as the city of Pundu described by Fuen Tsang. The first archeological excavation work was started at Mahasthangarh in 1928-1929. During this time excavations were carried out at 3 places called Vita Munir Ghon in Boiragi and Govinda Vita outside the city. After a long time, various parts of the fort were regularly excavated in 1960-1961 and later in 1988. Let’s check the travel story of Sitakunda Since 1993, the government of Bangladesh and France started excavating Mahasthangarh jointly and found a new