Mahasthangarh

Mahasthangarh is the earliest known city in Bangladesh: ancient Pundranagara, capital of the Pundra region, walled by the Maurya period in the third century BC and occupied continuously into the eighteenth century, with a fortified citadel about a mile and a half by a mile standing up to several metres above the plain beside the old course of the Karatoya. A Brahmi inscription found here is among the oldest written documents of the region. The citadel walls, gates and internal mounds can be walked, a museum holds the finds, and satellite sites spread over kilometres around, including the Govinda Bhita temple mound by the river and the Vasu Vihara monastery. The shrine of Shah Sultan Balkhi inside the citadel draws its own pilgrims.

What you actually see

• Maurya-period citadel walls - the rampart circuit above the plain.
• The site museum - finds from two thousand years of occupation.
• Govinda Bhita by the river - the temple mound outside the walls.
• The Shah Sultan shrine - the living pilgrimage inside the ancient city.

When to go

November to March. Half a day for the citadel and museum. There is little shade on the ramparts. The museum closes on some days.

Honest expectations

Much of the site is mounds and wall lines that need imagination. Satellite sites are scattered and need transport. Interpretation is limited. The shrine area is busy on Thursdays with pilgrims.

Nearby

Bogura is south; Paharpur lies north-west.