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Telhara (formerly known as Telāḍhaka) was a Buddhist monastic establishment in Nalanda district of Bihar, India dating back to the 1st-century CE and active till at least the 12th-century CE.[1] It is notable as it has been mentioned in the travelogues of Chinese monks including Xuanzang.[2]
| Telhara | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | Telhara, Nalanda district |
| Nearest city | Bihar Sharif |
| Coordinates | 25.226334°N 85.181587°E |
| Built | 1st-century CE |
| Governing body | Archaeological Survey of India |
  Site of Telhara  Telhara monastery (Bihar) | |
It has been mentioned as Teladhaka in the writings of the Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang, who visited the place in the 7th century CE.[3] It is mentioned in an inscription found at Nālandā which mentions a temple restored by a man named Bālāditya, a Jyāvisa of Telāḍhaka who had emigrated from Kauśāmbī, in the eleventh year of Mahipala Deva. [4]
A recently discovered inscription stone inscription confirms that the Pithipatis of Bodh Gaya donated land to the monastic community of Telhara.[5] It has also been mentioned in the Ain-i-Akbari as Tiladah, and is shown as one of the 46 mahals (administrative units) of the Bihar sarkar. Telhara was shown as a pargana in the maps prepared by the East India Company administration during 1842–45.[6]
The ruins of Telhara were mentioned in an 1872 letter by A. M. Broadley, the then Magistrate of Nalanda. Broadley noted that a large number of stone and metal images were often found during the digging of graves at the top of one of the mounds. Metal images found were melted down.[7] The State Government of Bihar started a new archaeological excavation of the site in December 2009. The work unearthed ancient pottery, antiques, and the remains of a three-storeyed structure mentioned by Hiuen Tsang. Evidence of prayer halls and residential cells in the monastery have been found. The excavation revealed the following chronological layers:[6]
- Northern Black Polished Ware (3rd Century BCE)
- Kushan (1st century CE)
- Gupta (5th to 7th century CE)
- Pala (7th century to 11th century CE)
A number of sculptures from the site had been moved to museums during the British Raj. The Indian Museum in Kolkata houses the Maitreya and the twelve-armed Avalokiteswar images from Telhara. A Pala sculpture from the site is present at the Rietberg Museum in Zürich. Telhara has a mosque, which is said to have been built with the materials carried from the ruins of the Buddhist monastery.[6] One pillar contained an inscription that mentions the place-name Telāḍhaka.
Remains of an ancient university (Mahavihara) on the site were unearthed in 2014.[8][9]
A small museum named Baladitya Museum has been established to store some of the artefacts found.
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