Telhara, Nalanda district
Telhara
Telhāḍa | |
---|---|
village | |
BR-21 | |
Nearest cities | Jehanabad (22 km) Bihar Sharif (35 km) Patna (63 km) |
Telhara is a village in Ekangarsarai block of Nalanda district, in Bihar. It is also the site of the Telhara monastery which dates back to the 1st-century CE.[1]
Buddhist monastery
Telhara was the site of a
It has been also mentioned in the Ain-i-Akbari as Tiladah, and is shown as one of the 46 mahals (administrative units) of the Bihar sarkar. Telhara was shown as a pargana in the maps prepared by the East India Company administration during 1842–45.[4]
The ruins of Telhara were mentioned in an 1872 letter by A. M. Broadley, the then Magistrate of Nalanda. Broadley noted that a large number of stone and metal images were often found during the digging of graves at the top of one of the mounds. Metal images found were melted down.[5] The State Government of Bihar started a new archaeological excavation of the site in December 2009. The work unearthed ancient pottery, antiques, and the remains of a three-storeyed structure mentioned by Hiuen Tsang. Evidence of prayer halls and residential cells in the monastery have been found. The excavation revealed the following chronological layers:[4]
- Northern Black Polished Ware (3rd Century BCE)
- Kushan (1st century CE)
- Gupta (5th to 7th century CE)
- Pala (7th century to 11th century CE)
A number of sculptures from the site had been moved to museums during the
Remains of an ancient university (Mahavihara) on the site were unearthed in 2014.[6][7]
A small museum named Baladitya Museum has been established to store some of the artifacts found.
Administration
Telhara comes under the administration of the Ekangarsarai gram panchayat. There are 5 census villages in the Telhara area:[8]
- Hajipur
- Khajepura
- Rasulpur
- Telhara
- Telhara Sani
References
- ISBN 978-1-351-35609-1.
- .
- ^ The Palas of Bengal, R. D. BANERJI, 1915
- ^ a b c Dr. Atul Kumar Verma. "Telhara (Nalanda) Excavation - A Brief Report (PDF)" (PDF). Retrieved 15 January 2014.
- ^ Explored Sculptural Heritage of Telhara, District Nalanda, Bihar: A Recent Visit, Pampa Biswas, Puravritta Volume 1, 2016, p. 167–182
- ^ "Another ancient university found in Nalanda | Patna News - Times of India". The Times of India.
- ^ "Telhara university". Archived from the original on 22 April 2016.
- ^ "Reports of National Panchayat Directory". Retrieved 15 January 2014.