Atish Dipanker Birthplace

Pandit Atish Dipankar, a famous Buddhist missionary of the Pala Empire, was born in 982 AD in the village of Vajrayogini in Vikrampur Pargana, 10 km away from Munshiganj district. Guru Atish Dipankar ranks after Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. Atish Dipankar's birthplace or Bastvita is known as Pandit's Vita to the locals. Atish Dipankar's Vastuvita traces the Buddhist monastery. Currently Atish Dipankar's cremated remains are kept by setting up a memorial chaitya of Atish Dipankar. Every year many Buddhists from different countries come to visit Birthplace of Atish Dipanker.

Atish Dipankar's father was a feudal king under the Pala kings. Atish Dipankar's childhood name was Adinath Chandragarbha. At the age of 10, Atish acquired the rare talent of understanding the difference between Buddhist and non-Buddhist scriptures. Later he went to Nalanda to receive Shastra education and at the age of 12 he was initiated as a sramana and became known as Dipankar Srijnana. From the age of 12 to 21, he took initiation in various scriptures from various scholars. As a final initiation, he studied Buddhist philosophy under Acharya Dharma Pal for 12 years and returned to his homeland and took up the responsibility of teaching at Vikramshila Vihara. He wrote, translated and edited about two hundred books on Buddhist scriptures, medicine and technology at various times. During this time, while doing various Buddhist reforms, his health deteriorated and he breathed his last in 1054 at the age of 73 at the Drolma Lakhang Tara temple in Che-thong, Lhasa Nagar.

Munshiganj can be reached by Mawa-bound bus from Gulisthan, Abdullahpur and Mirpur of capital Dhaka. The rent will be 60 to 90 taka. From Munshiganj Sadar Upazila by rickshaw/CNG one can reach Atish Dipankar's Pandit Vita located in Bajrayogini village about two kilometers beyond Sukhbaspur.

Being close to Dhaka, you can leave in the morning and return to Dhaka in the evening. If you need overnight stay, you can contact Hotel Three Star, Hotel Comfort or Padma, Mawa and Meghna Village Holiday Resort located in Munshiganj district headquarters.

There are several hotels in Munshiganj city like River View, New Rajdhani Restaurant, Mohiuddin Hotel and Munshi Home Hotel. Among the popular dishes of Munshiganj district are Chittar Dai, Anandar Sweets, Khuder Bauua and Bhagyakul Sweets.

Other places of interest in Munshiganj include Arial Bill , Padmahem Dham , Sonarang Jora Math , Baba Adam Mosque, Jagdish Chandra Bose Memorial Museum , Bhagyakul Zamindar Bari and Mawa Ferry Ghat .

Feature Image: Tushar Roy