BRAHMANISM AND BUDDHISM IN THE KAUWADOL HILL
Satyendra kumar pathak
It is a kauwadol hill in Belaganj block about 6 miles to the east of Bela railway station on the patna Gaya railway line and patna Gaya road . The kauwadol Hill is in the extreme north of the headquarters district Gaya and nearly one mile to the south west of the Barabar Hills . It is a detached hill rising abruptly from the plains to the height of about 500 feet . It is formed entirely of huge massages of granite piled precipitously one above the other and is crowned by a gigantic block of stone which is quite inaccessible.It is said that this pinnacle was formerly toped by another block which was so perfectly balanced that it used to rock even when a crow alighted on it and from this circumstances the kauwadol hill acquired the name of kauwadol and the crow 's swing.there is a rough track on the eastern side leading to the foot of the topmost pinnacle the last portion of which passes over an extremely steep slop of smooth slippery rock . Which can only be climbed with bare feet and rubber. Shoes.kauwadol has been identified as the site of the ancient monastery of dil hasra .Subhadra was a learned Buddhist of the royal family of samanata Bengal who overcome a learned heretic in a public disputation.As a reward for this victory the king gave him the revenues of a town with which he built a magnificent monastery.This place was visited by Hiuen Tsang in the 7 th century . He mentions it as being situated about 3 miles to the south west of the Gunamati monastery by the side of a solitary kunwar hill which he describes aa being a single sharp crag like a stupa .The position of the kauwadol Hill with respect to the Gunakari monastery at Dharawat , dharaaut jehanabad district Bihar leaves no doubt as to the accuracy of its indetification with the Dil bhadra monastery which is confirmed by the resemblance of the lofty peak shaped like a stupa with the peak of kauwadol which from a distance looks like a ruined stupa with out it's pinnacle. The remain of the monastery stil extant consist of the ruins of an ancient Buddhist temple at the foot of the eastern flank of the kauwadol hill. The temple enshrines a colossal statue of Lord Buddha seated in the act of invoking the earth when he was attacked by Mara and his host of evil powers . This is one of the largest statues of Buddha extant and is in fair preservation except that a portion of the halo has been broken the figure is about 8 feet high with a breadth of 4 feet across the shoulders and of 6 feet across the knees .
It is still in situ inside a small brick built cell but the temple is otherwise in ruins only parts of its original brick walls and some 13 granite pillars being traceable . These pullers probably supported an open hall the front of the temple Buddha .Among the rocks at the foot of the northern face of the kauwadol Hill there are numerous figures carved in high relief on many of the larger massages of granite .They are much worn and some have become very faint as the stone has not withstood the influences of the climate. Most of theme represent Brahmanical figures and by far the most numerous are sculptures of the four armed Goddess Durga slaying the Buffalo demon Mahishasur .There are however three Buddhist figures one a seated Buddha the other barasata and the third prajnaparamita.The row in which these figures have been carved contains a number of sculptured Hindu deities and is a striking example of the fusion of Brahmanism and Buddhism in the period 800 - 1200 A.D. to which these carvings . Kauwa dil Hill drive there name from the tradition that kakbhusundi the famous aadhyatmik sant and aadhyatm Ramayan rachayita kakabhusundi lived in one of these hill.And the name kauwadol is apparently a corruption of kakbhusundi the great enclosure a designation applied to the hill in which the kauwadol hill are situated. The Bodhisatva touched the earth when Mara challanged him exhorting the earth goddess to appear to witness his enlightenment.this is known as Bhumi sparsh mudra .The folk belief takes it to be a follower of king Banasur petrified due to a curse to return to human from like Ahilya when the duration of the curse is cover . See Archaeological survey of of India and Archaeological survey of Bengal circle for 1901 - 02 ,
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