The ruined monastery of Somapura Vihara, built of burnt bricks decorated with Buddhist patterns dates from the 8th Century. It’s like a whole city built progressively into a hill in a simple but striking angular style; the architecture influenced Buddhist building projects as far away as Cambodia and Thailand. A quadrangle of tiny monastic cells ring an open courtyard surrounding one of the monastery’s main shrines. One of the largest Buddhist monasteries outside of Tibet Somapura Vihara was, in its hey-day, thought of as an intellectual and cultural centre as well as a religious one , it came under attack do frequently that it was abandoned in the 12th Century. The area surrounding the ruins is still very rural.

Written by  World Reviewer Staff.

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