The pidgeon monastery of lord Buddha. This is the report I gave to the Archaeological survey of India pertaining to the pidgeon monastery visited by Huen Tsang
(7)Mathokhar Duh/ Kapotika which was Lord Buddhas pigeon monastery: (Si-Yu-Ki page 182 to 184) From
Indrasailaguha mountain or Natsar Huen Tsang travels 150 or 160 Li’s or twenty
eight miles east to what he calls Kapotika or the pigeon monastery. I will
quote the second paragraph of page 182 of Si-Yu-Ki. Huen Tsang writes, “Going
150 or 160 li to the north east of Indrasailaguha mountain, we come to the
Kapotika (pigeon) convent. There are about 200 priests, who study the principle
of the Sarvastava school of Buddhism.” This is Mathokhar Duh of today which
sounds similar to Huen Tsangs Kapotika. The monastery is 2 to 3 Li’s or 2800 ft
south west of the lonely hill. I will quote the second paragraph of page 183 of
Si-Yu-Ki. Huen Tsang writes, “To the south of this 2 or 3 li’s we come to a
solitary hill, which is of great height, and covered with forests and jungle.” The
lonely hill is Mathokhar hill where stone quarrying is taking place and must be
stopped. Huen Tsang states that there was an Ashokan stupa east of the
monastery and a Sri Lankan monastery on the lonely hill or the Mathokhar hill.
I realized Huen Tsang called it the lonely hill because it stood alone at a
distance from the range of Sheikhpura hills. Mathokhar today has two parallel
mud mounds about two thousand feet long with a beautiful lake in between. This
lake isn’t mentioned by the Chinese traveler so I suspect it was made after
him. Infact I suspect it was dug up to hide the ruins of the Sanghdharma. Huen
Tsang stated there were 200 priests who study the principles of Sarvastavada
school of Buddhism. That meant to house 200 priests the Sanghdharma must have
been big. Today there is an Ashokan stupa to the west of the Sanghdharma. Here
Huen Tsang makes a slight mistake in his bearing. He is very accurate in his
long distance bearings but in short distances like 2 or 3 Li’s he is
inaccurate. Basically the reader will realize the Chinese traveler has been
reaching holy Buddhist places without any hindrance or without a hitch despite
being a foreigner. He doesn’t stray off the road or search for places which is
unique and is possible only if he had an escort. I suspect he wasn’t travelling
alone but with an escort party on a guided tour arranged by Emperor Harsha
Vardhan himself. The escort party was taking him directly to important holy
Buddhist sites where he was treated well. They were looking after all his needs
like food and clothing and shelter. It seems Huen Tsang asked his escort long
distance bearings which he notes down accurately. In the short distance ones he
gives wrong bearings. This means he avoids asking his guide the short distance bearings
because short distance ones are supposed to be easy. I suspect the latter might
think him illiterate. Another example of giving wrong short distance bearings
is in Pataliputra. Ashokas hell, the Ghanta stupa, and Dheebar are all to the
west of Ashokas palace. These are all at short distances. Surprisingly he
states they are to the north when the palace is on the banks of the Ganges
itself. This means he was embarrassed to ask close range bearings thinking his
escort would think him to be illiterate. So instead of giving the bearing of
the Ashokan stupa in Mathokhar as west to the sanghdharma he gives it to the
east. This must have happened in Pataliputra too. That means he was looking in
the opposite direction when he gave the bearing. Today there is a mosque and
five Muslim graves on the Ashokan stupa in Mathokhar. Next to the stupa is a
hillock on which there is a rock with shadows of footmarks on the rock. The
Muslims claim it is the Muslim dargah baba’s footmark. Huen Tsangs story
tallies with the local folk lore of the place. According to him the Buddha
preached here for a day. There was a bird catcher who caught and ate birds. One
day he didn’t catch a bird. He thought it was a magic of the Buddha so he went
to the latter and complained that he and his family were hungry. The Buddha
told him to light a fire. The bird catcher did as asked and a dove seemed to
drop into the fire. The bird catcher cooked it and fed his family. But he came
back and repented for killing and became a holy man who never went back home.
He stayed back in the Sanghdharma and became a learned Bhikshu and an arhat.
The villagers of Mathokhar have a similar story to tell. Instead of the Buddha
the Dargah Baba was camping there. He wanted to drink milk so he asked a milk
man. The latter told him to milk a cow that never gave milk. But the Dargah
Baba successfully milked it so the surprised Jadav boiled the milk and made
Kheer and fed the Baba. The Jadavs name was Chulhai. After that he realized the
dargah Baba was special. He repented and stayed back and never went home. He
became a learned man. I believe the Ashokan stupa is dedicated to him. This
story compared to Huen Tsangs story and the accurate Li’s from the
Indrasailaguha mountain proves Mathokhar is Kapotika. On top of the Mathokhar
hill is a rocky stupa which the locals pray to and call Rani Machola. This is
the Sinhalese monastery Huen Tsang writes about. Another Buddhist stupa has
been blown away by the stone quarriors. Huen Tsang had written about other
monasteries on the hill. All these seem to have been quarried. Rani Machola
proves that Mathokhar hill is Huen Tsangs lonely hill. Every Thursday and
Friday villagers assemble on the Ashokan stupa and sacrifice goats and chickens
to the Dargah Baba and cook it on the stupa itself. They are repeating the act
of the bird catcher who cooked the dove.
Alexander
Cunningham came here and wrote about the place in his report of Sheikhpura. He
failed to realize Mathokar matched with Huen Tsangs mis-pronounced Kapotika.
Cunningham went on to report that this was the Deva temples Huen Tsang had
written about south of the Ganges. The Ganges is nowhere near Mathokhar. He
identifies Parvati hill as Kapotika. I will quote page six of Cunninghams
report in, “A tour in Bihar and Bengal in 1879-80.” It is the sixth page and
the chapter on ‘Parbati’. He writes, “On leaving Indrasailaguha or Indras cave,
Huen Tsang says he traveled 150 to 160 Li’s to the north east to the Kapotika
or pigeon monastery close to which on the south there was a steep isolated hill
covered with holy buildings. Now there is clearly some error in the distance as
a journey of some 25 to 27 miles would have taken the pilgrim into the old bed
of the Ganges, now called the Halohar river and at least twelve miles away from
the nearest hills of Sheikhpura. I propose therefore to read 50 to 60 li; a
distance which would suit either for the hill of Bihar or for that of Parbati.”
The reader will realize Cunningham and other orientalists were guessing. He was
measuring from Giryek village which he had wrongly identified as the Indrasaila
Guha mountain. The British orientalists were reducing and increasing Li’s to
suit their finds while all the time proving Huen Tsang wrong when they were
wrong themselves. All this and much more is available in the video in my
youtube channel “Buddha Exhumed.”
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