10th-century Buddhist monastery discovered

[Still Waters]

Researchers with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) have discovered what appear to be the remains of a Buddhist monastery dated to the tenth century A.D.

As Abhijit Sen reports for the Times of India, the archaeologists recently found 11 stone statues at the site, which is located in the Hazaribag district of the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand.

The sculptures each stand two to three feet tall. Six represent the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, while the other five likely depict Tara, who is known as a deity in Hinduism and a female bodhisattva—central figures who delay personal enlightenment in order to offer earthbound worshippers salvation—or Buddha in different Buddhist traditions.

Also recorded at the site were inscriptions in Devanagari script, which is used in languages including Sanskrit and Hindi. The team hopes that the writing, once translated, will provide more information about the monastery.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/1000-year-old-monastery-found-india-180977111/