Monastic Complex at Moghalmari

The first season of excavations at Moghalmari resulted in the partial exposure of a huge brick structure with its extensive walls, square chambers, and brick paved platforms at MGM1. The triratha plan of the structure in the western part of the mound, the discovery of a Buddhist terracotta sealing, numerous terracotta lamps, and huge quantities of grey, buff, and red pottery with the occasional exposure of typically Gupta applique pottery--all these evidences from MGM1 together with the circular brick structures from MGM2 clearly indicated that the complex was a religious one, Buddhist to be more precise. Besides, at MGM2, the excavation revealed a 1.5-metre-thick deposit of BRW culture at the lowest level--crucial and significant evidence that the site was probably deserted for centuries, to be settled again in the early medieval period.
The more extensive excavations in 2006-07 confirmed these indications beyond doubt. The excavations revealed the existence of a pre-Pala monastic establishment exhibiting two distinct phases of structural activity. Even earlier excavations had revealed a third structural phase at a still lower level, probably representing the earliest structural phase at MGM1. The earlier phase is represented by a large monastery with a frontal temple complex on the eastern side. The outer wall of the temple, its brickrammed external platform at a depth of 3.75 metres from surface level, represents possibly the most extensive architectural stucco art creation in the whole of the delta. Unprecedented as it appears, the variations in the style and theme represent a unique idiom and technical excellence in craftsmanship. Plastered with thin lime and/or stucco and constructed with a variety of plain and decorated bricks set in mud mortar, the structures at Moghalmari definitely parallel those at Nalanda, Karnasuvarna, and other pre-Pala monastic establishments of eastern India. A large number (22 types have been identified) of foliated and geometric motifs with unique proportions and style were found in the temple complex.