We all know about Cumilla's Rosmalai and Khadi or Khaddar. Nevertheless, Cumilla is one of the oldest cities in Bangladesh which is prominent for many other reasons. There are historical records here. The old buildings and structures of the Cumilla city carry reminiscences of those glorious days. Cumilla is a place of ancient illustration too.
The silent witness of ancient civilization, Cumilla, Whose position is between Dhaka and Chattagram. There are Commonwealth War Cemetery Memorials, Muktijoddha Museum at Mainamati Cantonment, Shalbon Bihar, BARD, Mainamati Museum, DhormoSagor and Comilla University which is situated at the top of the Lalmai hill at Kotbari. Among all the tourist spots, Shalbon Bihar is the most famous one.
Originally, Shalbon Bihar was a Buddhist monastery. Where, perhaps more than a thousand years ago, monks used to live as well as to study and pray. At first, the monastery was called Bhavadev Bihar after the king, but today it is known as Shalbon Bihar, as there are a grove of Shal trees just outside. First thing a visitor might notice its square shape form outside measuring 169 meters, delimited by a wall 3 meters thick with only one entrance. There are 115 tiny rooms laid out along the square's edges, where monks used to stay.
Then there is temple in the center of the temple, which was the place to pray. Twelve temples have been discovered around the main temple. The magnificent arcade in the middle of the north arm is a special attraction of this monastery. The walls around Bihar are 5 meters thick. The walls of lime and girder are still there, though it was recently reconstructed. People might not know that During the Second World War, British military has done some serious damages to this monastery. They decided to build an airport in Cumilla, however, made that airport by plundering bricks from this ancient monastery.
Shalbon Bihar has created a different effect by combining both history and nature. Everyday thousands of people are crowded here along with the museum, adjoined to the Bihar, Itakholamura, Rupbanmura, Buddhist Temple. You can learn about the ancestors of Bengalis. Here, meditation, wisdom, religious education and science were practiced once. Like historical Nalanda University, people used to visit here to learn about Buddhist religion from many countries.
Archeology Department of Bangladesh controls the Bihar, and is open for seven days a week from 10am to 6pm. A local visitor needs to pay 20 Tk as an entrance fee to watch this beauty. For other foreign nationals, 200 tk, and 100 tk for SAARC nationals.
The monastery is closed only on the 'Eid' days of the year. It would take three hours from Dhaka to reach the main attraction. To go there, get off from the bus at kotbari highway, afterwards; take a C.N.G or Auto Rickshaw to go the Bihar directly. It will cost 20 Tk per person to go the Bihar from korbari area.
The writer is studying journalism at the University of Cumilla and working as the university correspondent of The Asian Age.
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