Dipavamsa

Enrich Bangladeshi Buddhist History

Rich Buddhist History of Bangladesh

By 

Venerable Mangala Priya

Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University

Bangladesh is the most potential destination for Buddhist culture since Buddhism was originally spread from here and enlightened the whole world. The most important literary sources about Buddhism in India and Bangladesh could be traced from the travel report of great Chinese pilgrims. The most prominent ones were Fa-hien who traveled overland between 399-414 AD, Huen Tsang traveled between 629-645 AD and I-Tsing traveled between 671-692 AD.

From the account of the most prominent Chinese pilgrims Tahien and Hiuen Tsaug mentioned that Lord Buddha with his 500 disciples visited Pundravardhana which is presently Mahasthangarh (in Bangladesh) and preached his new Gospel at SAMATATA (South Eastern part of Bangladesh) including the Lalmai and Moinamoti range. According to Arakanese