17/05/2023
Sitagarha Hill 🏞️ Hazaribagh 📍
Sitagarh Hill 🏞️ is located 10 km from Hazaribagh and is in the village of Bahoranpur. It has been declared as a major Buddhist site after it was examined by the archaeological Survey of India. Pottery, clay pipes and stone deities were excavated here and it shows signs of early human inhabitation.
On the eastern side of the hill there is a Buddhist monastery and Vihara. The monastery spread over an area of 18 acres and looked quite impressive. It has a chamber of Buddha at the centre, a Stupa and a palace. There are also stone wells, artificial and natural ponds and a terrace garden. Behind the garden are signs of natural bird and animal sanctuaries. There is also some traces of Vaishnav temples on the monastery. The bricks found here depicts that they are made in the Mauryan period, which is from 400 BC to 300 BC. The polished Gray Wares also confirms the Mauryan period.
A number of sandstone sculptures are also here, among which the stone stupa is famous. The stupa is about 20 inch in height and 16 inch in diameter. It consists of four images of Lord Buddha, and the images are surrounded by Bodhisattvas. An eight petalled lotus made of pink sand stone was also found on the place, and it is now the monogram of the Vinoba Bhave University in . A large statue of Buddha in meditation and a four feet high status of Mahadeva were also among the excavated objects.
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