Ruins of Vikramshila
Monastery · The Buddha; the mahavihara of the Pala kings · Antichak village, Bhagalpur, Bihar
Buddhist pilgrims and students of the dharma come to one of the two great Pala universities, from which...
The excavated remains of the Vikramashila mahavihara, founded by the Pala king Dharmapala in the late 8th or early 9th century and destroyed around 1193. A huge square monastery about 330 m to a side holds 208 monastic cells around a central courtyard, with a two-terraced cruciform brick stupa about 15 m high at the centre, a library building 32 m to the south with an ancient cooling channel, underground meditation chambers, terracotta ornament and a cluster of votive stupas across more than 100 acres. A site museum at the entrance displays excavated sculpture, coins, utensils, weapons and jewellery. It is about 50 km east of Bhagalpur and 11-13 km from Kahalgaon station, reached by an 11 km motorable road off NH-80 at Anadipur. ASI permission is needed for electronic devices.
Plan your visit
- Best season
- September to April" (Bihar Tourism)
- Area
- Sultanganj
- Status
- Coming Soon
Festivals
- Vikramashila Mahotsav, February
Yatras that include Ruins of Vikramshila
- Buddhist Yatra: Nalanda's rival, founded when Nalanda was already old. Almost nobody comes here.
Tirtham can arrange here
Guide, car and stay around Sultanganj
Also around Sultanganj
- Manjusha art of Bhagalpur: The only Indian folk painting told as a strip, in three colours, of the Bihula-Bishahari legend; GI-registered in 2021.
- Bhagalpur silk: The tussar silk of the Silk City, GI-registered in 2013.
- Jardalu mango: Bhagalpur's pale, fragrant mango, sent every year to the President; GI-registered in 2018.
- Katarni rice and chura: The fragrant rice of the Munger-Bhagalpur plain, GI-registered in 2018, best known here as beaten rice.
- Dahi chura on Makar Sankranti: The Makar Sankranti breakfast across Bihar: flattened rice, curd and jaggery, with tilkut after.
Nearby places
- Ajgaibinath Dham, Sultanganj: Where the kanwar yatra begins, on the north-flowing Ganga
- Bateshwar Sthan: To perform jalabhishek at an ancient linga on the Uttarvahini Ganga at the Ganga-Kosi confluence...
- Budhanath Temple: In Shravan the temple draws over a million devotees for Rudrabhishek and Jalabhishek, and the Bhagalpur...
- Champapuri: Champapuri is the only place where all five kalyanaks of Bhagwan Vasupujya occurred, which makes it one...
- Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Bhagalpur: It is the mother church of the Catholic diocese covering eastern Bihar, and the focus of the diocesan...
Questions pilgrims ask
Why is Ruins of Vikramshila important?
The excavated remains of the Vikramashila mahavihara, founded by the Pala king Dharmapala in the late 8th or early 9th century and destroyed around 1193. A huge square monastery about 330 m to a side holds 208 monastic cells around a central courtyard, with a two-terraced cruciform brick stupa about 15 m high at the centre, a library building 32 m to the south with an ancient cooling channel, underground meditation chambers, terracotta ornament and a cluster of votive stupas across more than 100 acres. A site museum at the entrance displays excavated sculpture, coins, utensils, weapons and jewellery. It is about 50 km east of Bhagalpur and 11-13 km from Kahalgaon station, reached by an 11 km motorable road off NH-80 at Anadipur. ASI permission is needed for electronic devices.
When is the best time to visit Ruins of Vikramshila?
September to April" (Bihar Tourism).
Which festivals are celebrated at Ruins of Vikramshila?
Vikramashila Mahotsav, February.
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