Work / monument · monument

Somapura Mahavihara

late 8th century · 8th century · Also known as Paharpur, Paharpur Buddhist Vihara

Somapura Mahavihara is the ruin of a great Buddhist monastery at Paharpur in Naogaon District, Bangladesh, founded by the Pala king Dharmapala in the late eighth century. Its square court of 177 monastic cells surrounds a cruciform temple whose plan influenced Buddhist architecture as far as Myanmar and Java. It was one of the largest monasteries south of the Himalayas and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.

Somapura Mahavihara
Image: Abdulmominbd · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

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Pala EmpireSocioeconomy, Impact

Mentioned in 1 state history

Pala Empire

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Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Somapura Mahavihara. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/somapura-mahavihara
MLA
“Somapura Mahavihara.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/somapura-mahavihara. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Somapura Mahavihara.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/somapura-mahavihara.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Somapura Mahavihara’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/somapura-mahavihara (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻