Bangladesh still has a lot to offer to her tourists.
In the present era of competitive global tourism, capitalising on our Buddhist heritage can be an effective tool for employment generation and economic benefit, which can trickle down to the local people in South Asia, especially Bangladesh, Nepal, and India.
SAARC countries can benefit hugely through the joint promotion of Buddhist pilgrimage sites. India and Nepal are already reaping benefits through various initiatives in promoting Buddhist heritage tourism. India receives more than a million tourists annually to Buddhist sites, and the number would rise hugely if Buddhist circuits at cross frontier levels were promoted by other countries too.
Bangladesh being an important repository of Buddhist heritages and the torch-bearer of spreading Buddhism -- by the great saint and philosopher Atish Dipankar, after Lord Buddha and King Ashoka -- can make an important mark in the global Buddhist pilgrimage tourism market. The development of Buddhist pilgrim circuits would lead to the creation of more jobs in the tourism sector, and also increase tolerance and cohesiveness among these countries, paving the way for regional, economic, and cultural co-operation.
In addition, the development of the circuits could lead to the preservation of ancient art, architecture, and heritage. This would generate funds for the preservation and conservation of newly excavated and preserved ancient Buddhist sites.
The majority of Asian countries, in the past, have experienced the richness of the Buddhist culture and arts. Buddhist art can act as a catalyst to unify the Asian countries. With the promotion of Buddhist ancient monuments, employment for the local youth can be generated in transportation, hotels, and small-scale industrial sectors, and sacred shrines and sites belonging to other religions could be promoted in the same way.
Lord Buddha visited the ancient Bengal and stayed for months. Buddhism in Bangladesh has been receiving state patronage for a while, especially during the Pala Dynasty, and its influence can still be seen in the culture and heritage of this country.
In Bangladesh, some concrete discoveries regarding Buddhism were recently made, signifying our country’s role regarding the culture.
These discoveries have added substantially to our knowledge of the history of ancient Bangladesh and various aspects of Buddhist life and culture. Though Buddhism originated in Nepal and flourished in India, Bangladesh is the heartland of much living and non-living, tangible and intangible Buddhist heritage.
Prominent Buddhist monuments in Bangladesh which have already been excavated are: Paharpur, Basu Vihar, Mahasthangarh, Sitakot, Halud Vihar, Jagaddal, Mainamati, and many others. The government of Bangladesh has taken various measures to preserve and maintain our Buddhist relics in order to promote tourism.
Paharpur, the largest known Buddhist monastery in the south of the Himalayas, has been excavated, and its excavation has led to astounding findings. Architecturally, they revealed a new type of Buddhist temple architecture, known as the Sarvatobhadra type.
The Paharpur monastery complex was built by Dharmapala, and was named, as is known from the ceilings of the monastery, as the Dharmapaladeva Mahavihara.
Halud Vihar is about nine miles to the west-south of Paharpur, and is known for containing the ruins of an extensive Buddhist establishment, while a modest-sized Buddhist shrine has also been discovered here.
Mahasthangarh is the oldest archaeological site of Bangladesh, and the walls of the site show that it was once a fortified city. Its suburbs extended for miles, and their impressive remains can be traced even today.
As its remains show, it was also unique in being a city with a continuous history of more than 1,500 years. However, with the earlier discovery of probable evidence of urn burial, and the recent discovery of probable Chalcolithic levels (Bangladesh-French joint excavations), the occupation of the site may go back many centuries prior to the foundation of the Maurya period.
Bhasu Vihar is situated about three to four miles to the north-west of Mahasthangarh, a complex of sites, and the post-Bangladesh excavations here have exposed the remains of two large Buddhist monasteries and a medium-sized Buddhist shrine. The Vihar mound was excavated in 1979-83, and led to the discovery of a small monastery consisting of 37 cells. Bhasu Vihar has also been prolific in the yield of inscribed terracotta sealing -- more than 250 have been collected so far.
Antiquities dug up from Mainamati ridge have established its value as a potential archaeological site. The copper plate inscription of Ranavankamalla Harikaladeva was discovered as early as 1803. In 1875, ruins of what was supposed to be a small “brick fort,” were discovered in the Kotbari mound, along with some typical Mainamati terracotta plaques -- it was, in fact, another monastery.
In contrast to Paharpur, where the largest number of stone sculptures and terracotta plaques in any one site in Bangladesh has been found, an astounding number of inscriptions, coins, and miniature bronzes have been hauled from Mainamati, unequaled for any single ancient site not only in Bengal, but perhaps in the entire sub-continent.
Bangladesh can legitimately be proud of its valuable Buddhist heritage. It has every right to join the international Buddhist circuit and be a member of the SAARC Buddhist heritage circuit initiative.