Telhara Circuit in Historical Records (A Cluster of Ancient Buddhist Sites)
Presenter:
Timeslot:
07/27 | 09:20-09:40 UTC+2/CESTAbstract
Telhara is a small village in the Hilsa subdivision of the Nalanda Dist. in Bihar. Telhara and its vicinity areas yield a cluster of ancient Buddhist sites and find in historical records which reflects the importance of these site in past time.
Telhara was visited by the Chinese traveller, Heun Tsang in the 7th Century AD., and it was mentioned as Teleadaka in his account. In course of excavation at the site a good number of Pala sculpture have been discovered including both Buddhist & Brahmanical deities. The site, is also mentioned in the Ain-i-Akbari as Tiladah and is shown as one of the 46 mahals of Sarkar Bihar. Buchanan mentioned this village as an important state of Bihar. The account in Minhaj’s Tabqat-i-Nasiri also tells about this site.
About 4 k.m. of Ongari, there remains of large village called Biswak & Biswa. Like Telhara, this place is also mentioned as a pargana, which according to the Ain-i-Akbar. Islampur and Mubarakpur are other important sites in ancient records.
All these sites make circuit and Telhara might have been focused on the centre and famous for specialized studies. Discussion about these sites in historical records, specially Telhara.