Mainamati Shalban Vihara

The Mainamati ridge near Cumilla holds more than fifty Buddhist sites of the seventh to twelfth centuries, and Shalban Vihara is the main excavated one: a monastery about one hundred and sixty-seven metres square, with a hundred and fifteen cells opening onto an inner courtyard and a cruciform brick temple standing at the centre, built in the eighth century under the Deva dynasty and rebuilt several times. The cells, the temple plinth with its terracotta plaques, the drainage and the entrance survive as brick foundations and low walls. A museum on the ridge holds the finds: bronze figures, terracotta plaques, coins, seals and inscribed copper plates from across the sites, and it makes sense of what is otherwise a plan on the ground.

What you actually see

• A hundred and fifteen monastic cells - the square around the inner court.
• The cruciform central temple - the brick shrine at the middle.
• Terracotta plaques on the plinth - the decorated base of the temple.
• The site museum - bronzes, seals and copper plates from the whole ridge.

When to go

November to March. Two to three hours with the museum. It closes on some days and Friday hours are restricted. There is little shade on the site. Mornings are cooler.

Honest expectations

The site is at foundation and low wall level and needs the museum to make sense. There is no shade. Other sites on the ridge are inside a military cantonment and cannot be visited. The highway journey is slow.

Nearby

Cumilla is east; the Dhaka to Chittagong highway runs past the ridge.