Buddhist vihara and pagoda, Magura
Bhatar Bhita Buddhist Monasteryভাতের ভিটা বৌদ্ধবিহার
- Time needed
- About an hour.
- best months
- Nov–Feb
A mound at Tila, by the Fatki river, that legend calls the 'mound of rice'; excavation found a Buddhist monastery from between the Maurya and Gupta periods.
At a glance
- Period
- Between the Maurya and Gupta periods
- Place
- Tila, Moghi union, Magura Sadar
- Care
- Department of Archaeology
About
The story everyone in Tila tells is about a saint who passed by one night and began to build a mosque here. The rice for the builders was cooked, but the mosque was not finished when the birds began to sing at dawn, so he left it as it was. In the morning the villagers found the unfinished mosque, cooked rice on the mound, and a pond made by the rice water that had run off it. So the mound became Bhatar Bhita, the 'mound of rice', and the pond the Fanghali pukur.
When the Department of Archaeology dug here, it found something older: a Buddhist monastery from between the Maurya and Gupta periods, with a small many-roomed building laid out like the great vihara at Paharpur. The department looks after the site today. A mosque now stands on the mound and is used for the five daily prayers, with the pond beside it. Come for the quiet setting on the north bank of the Fatki and the layers of story in one small place.
Getting there: About 12 km south of Magura town: a bus on the Jashore–Magura road, then a van to Tila on the Fatki.
Things to do
- Walk round the mound and the Fanghali pond.
- Ask locally to hear the legend of the rice.
Good to know
- A mosque stands on the mound: dress modestly and avoid prayer times.
- Do not dig or take anything from the site; it is protected.
