Sri Surya Pahar Bongaigaon

Sri Surjya Pahar, a noted archaeological site situated at the banks of Brahmaputra, at Assam is a lesser known tourist spot with great significance in terms of historical value. This place is located 132 km down northwest side of Guwahati. The sacred Sri Surya Pahar is a stretch of shivlingas approximately expanding up to a kilometer. The lingas are said to be formed by boulder and big rocks. It is believed that there are 99999 lingas, engraved by Krishna Dvaipayana or commonly known as Ved Vyasa to make it a replica of Kashi or second Kashi. This unexplored place has minutely detailed design of houses and the bricks built with it, which are of great archaeological importance.

Sri Surjya Pahar is open to all religion without discrimination of caste, creed and sex. It merges three religions together with its myriad scriptures and antiques of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.

As per Hindu religion Sri Surjya Pahar is believed to be a slab of a carved stone correlated to Surya (sun). The inner center of the carved stone was spotted as prajapati’ whereas the outer has been identified as twelve lotus petals. As per the Jains there remains nothing except for the footprints of the Rishabhanath followers. But in Buddhist remains differently shaped and sized 25 stupas have been found.

Things to Do and See in and around

This beautiful archaeological monument itself is a stretch of a kilometer to roam about and have a glance of the finely crafted art. Archaeologists discovered as many as 173 sculptures out of which 93 are on display in galleries. The opening hour to the museum is 10 am -5 pm with no entry fee.

Other nearby visiting places can be Koya Kujia Bill, a small project which is undertaken by (ATDC). It is 25 km from Bongaigaon. Enjoy watching the migratory flock of birds in winter.

Bagheswari temple is one of the oldest temples of southern part of Assam with 51 piths. As per Hindu myth, it is said that the trishul/trident of Goddess Durga fell here when she was cut into half by Lord Vishnu after the rites and rituals of Dakhsya Yagya.