Paragraph : Paharpur Monastery

Paharpur Monastery

The entire establishment, occupying a quadrangular court, has high enclosure walls, about 5m in thickness and from 3.6m to 4.5m in height. Though the walls are not preserved to a very great height, from their thickness and massiveness, it can be assumed that the structure was storied commensurate with the lofty central shrine. In plan, it consists of rows of cells, each approximately 4.26x4.11m in area all connected by a spacious veranda (about 2.43 to 2.74m wide), running continuously all around, and approached from the inner courtyard by flight of steps provided in the middle of each of the four sides. There are in all 177 cells, excluding the cells of the central block in each direction; 45 cells on the north and 44 in each of the other three sides. The central block on the east, west and south sides is marked by a projection in the exterior wall and contains three cells and passage around them, while in the north, there stands a spacious hall. In the monastic cell No. 96, three floors have been discovered. Here the level of the last one (upper) is within 30cm from ground level, that of the second 1m, while the third (lowest) is about 1.5m from the surface. It appears that this sequence has been generalized in all the cells of the monastery.