The city of Pataliputra: Reading the above we realize that prior to the discovery and translation of Huen Tsangs “Si-Yu-Ki Buddhist Records Of The Western World,” by Samuel Beal which was published in 1906, all sorts of theories abounded in relation to the identification of the site of ancient Pataliputra. But till date none of the actual sites Huen Tsang described have been found in the excavated sites near Patna. Till now there are no traces of Ashokas palace, his first sanghdharma, prince Mahendras hill house, Ashokas first Buddha relic stupa, Ashokas hell or torture chambers, the Ghantaghar stupa, the unbeatable Brahmins house, the rock on which Ashoka fed the monks, the stone with lord Buddhas foot impression on it, the stupa in the name of a medicinal fruit, the pond in which all sins were washed away, and the five extra relic stupas made for the left over relics of the Buddha.

All the above mentioned are found east of Patna in six villages bordering the river Ganges and to north of the Barh National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) power plant close to the subdivisional town of Barh in Patna district. The villages are Dheebar, Sahnoura, Pachmahala, Lemuabad, Railli, Chintamachak, Balam Pokhar, and Pandarak. The power plant and these villages combined together stand on the site of the ancient city of Pataliputra. According to Huen Tsangs description the power plant is definitely on the spot of the old city of Pataliputra. Prince Mehendras hill house is a Hindu temple in Dheebar, the Kali temple in village Sahnoura stands on Ashokas hell; near the Kali temple in the fields lies the rock on which Ashoka fed the monks, the ghanta stupa is in a village called Railli, the Patna to Mokameh highway passes over the stupa named after a medicinal fruit, Ashokas palace is in a village called Pandarak, Ashokas first relic stupa is in Pandarak and is today a sun temple, the rock with the Buddhas foot impression is near the sun temple on the banks of the Ganges, Ashokas first sanghdharma is in village Chintamanchak, and the five Buddha relic stupas are in a village called Pachmahala. I will now give a detailed description of this find.

(1) HUEN TSANG started his tour of the Magadh region from Pataliputra and travelled 450 Li or 79 miles south west to Gaya. Orientalists like Samuel Beal and the others had pinpointed Kumhrar in Patna as Pataliputra which is directly north of Gaya so doesn’t match Huen Tsangs description. It seems the orientalists didn’t think ancient Indians capable of supplying accurate mileage which is why they didn’t do a simple thing as calculate the direction and mileage Huen Tsang supplied to travel from Pataliputra to Gaya. The ancient Chinese pilgrim had traveled 79 miles south west to Gaya so Pataliputra should be north east of Gaya. The Barh NTPC and the five villages north to it, namely Pandarak, Sahnoura, Lemuabad, Railli, Dheebar, Pachmahala is 450 Li’s north east of Gaya. This matches with Huen Tsangs description of Pataliputra.  The city can be described as follows.

(a) The Barh Thermal power station is bang on the old city of Pataliputra. I have come to this conclusion because of my identification of the first Sanghdharma emperor Ashoka built after he suffered a change of heart and became a pious man and the identification of the pond Huen Tsang describes which had the ability to wash away the sins of the bather who bathed in its waters.

(b) Chintamanchak: According to Huen Tsang’s book “Si-Yu-Ki,” in page 95 in the first paragraph the Chinese pilgrim says “To the south east of the old city (Pataliputra, now the Barh NTPC) is the sanghdharma Kiu-cha-o-lan-mo which was built by Ashoka Raja when he first became believer in the religion of the Buddha. It was a sort of first fruit.” Kiu-cha-o-lan-mo is a Chinese mispronunciation of an Indian name. It was Ashokas first sanghdharma after he suffered a change of mind and converted to Buddhism. Today exactly south east of NTPC is the village of Chintamanchak with ruins which Huen Tsang mispronounced as K’iu-cha-o-lan-mo which Samuel Beal translates and further mispronounces as Kukkutarama. Huen Tsangs K’iu-chan-o-lan-mo sounds similar to Chintamanchak so it is safe to identify today’s Chintamanchak village with Huen Tsangs mis-pronounced name. Chintanman in the local Bihari language means to think deeply and decide so the village name itself states that there was a change of mind before he built the sanghdharma.  This village is in the Taal area of Barh subdivision and is prone to floods so people have made their homes on the sanghdharma itself thinking it free high ground. The fact that Huen Tsang states the sanghdharma is south east to the old city and in actuality the village is south east of the thermal power station, the latter can be safely identified as the site of the city of Pataliputra itself.

(c) Balam Pokhar: Huen Tsang writes about a pond to the southwest of the old city of Pataliputra. It is next to some low rocky high ground which unfortunately has been land filled by the power plant to make a temple. Half of the pond still exists. I will quote the last chapter of page 93 of Si-Yu-Ki. “By the side of it is an old tower, the ruins of which are a massed of heaped up stones. There is also a pond, the gentle ripples of which play over its surface as pure as a mirror. The people far and near call it the sacred water. If anyone drinks thereof or washes in it, the defilement of their sins is washed away and destroyed.” The reader will realize according to Huen Tsang south west to the old city of Pataliputra there is a pond where after bathing in it people’s sins are washed away. Today south west of the NTPC power plant there is a revered pond by the name of Balam pokhar where people come and bath. It is believed that the pond and its mud water cures skin diseases. This pond tallies with Huen Tsangs description and helps us mark the Barh NTPC power plant to be standing on the remains of the city of Pataliputra. The pond is in danger of being land filled for building purposes. Villagers requested me that it was a holy site and to stop the land filling.  Together the pond and the village of Chintamanchak can safely identify the site of the power plant as the site of Huen Tsangs old city of Pataliputra.

(d) The old palace and Ashokas hell: According to Huen Tsang an old palace was north of the city of Pataliputra so this palace should be north of the thermal power plant. To the north of the palace he made a hell or torture chamber. I will quote the last chapter of page 85 of “Si-Yu-Ki.” He writes,“To the north of the old palace of the king is a stone pillar several tens of feet high; this is the place where Ashoka Raja made a hell.” The Chinese traveler then describes the hell or torture chambers king Ashoka made to torture people. I have located that hell which is now under a Kali temple in village Sahnoura which is adjacent to Pandarak village. There are intricately carved rocks and artifacts there that could belong to a torture chamber. One looked like a guillotine. The pillar Huen Tsang had described is wedged within the western wall of the Kali temple. It isn’t as high as Huen Tsang described it. This is natural as it must have been attacked by King Shashank who had a habit of persecuting Buddhists, pulling down Ashokan pillars, and chopping them into small Shiva Lingas. The temple is on high ground and villagers say that artifacts are procured whenever someone digs in its premises or in the surrounding area. I am sure excavation of the site will produce the torture chambers. The villages name Sahnoura in the rural Bihari dialect of that area itself means to ‘bear great pain in hell.’ It also sounds similar to Sramna who is the main character in Huen Tsangs story of the torture chamber.

 (e) Ashokas first Buddha Relic stupa: Huen Tsang further goes on to describe King Ashokas first relic stupa to house the Buddhas relics. This stupa helps us identify Ashokas palace itself. I will quote the last chapter of page 87 of the Chinese traveler’s journal “Si-Yu-Ki.” He says, “to the south of the earth prison and not far off is a stupa. Its foundation walls are sunk and its in a leaning ruinous condition. There remains however, the crowning jewel of the cupola. This is made of carved stone and has a surrounding balustrade. This was the first (or one) of the 84000 (stupas). Ashoka Raja erected it by the power of man in the middle of his royal precinct.” Exactly north east of the NTPC power plant is the village of Pandarak which I believe stands on King Ashokas palace itself. In the middle of the village is King Ashokas first relic stupa with the Buddhas relics in it which today is a Hindu sun temple. The temple is on high ground which is the stupa itself. I have seen a lot of Ashokan stupas in my explorations so I regard myself as the only authority on Ashokan stupas in the world till date. I recognized the gradual incline to the sanctum sanctorum of the sun temple which is nothing else but the cupola Huen Tsang described. Huen Tsangs story of the capture of the sun by Upagupta and the local folk lore of the sun temple of Pandarak village are very similar. According to Huen Tsang after King Ashoka got 84000 stupas constructed to house the relics of the Buddha he wanted the relics to be lowered into all the stupas at the same time. Upagupta tells him to advise his men to watch the sun and as soon as it sets during the day to insert the relics into the stupas. Thus the relics would be inserted in all the stupas at the same time. The people obeyed and one day Upagupta covered the sun during the day so everyone, where ever they were, inserted the relics into the stupas. The modern day story of Pandarak sun temple is the same. Punya Baba is the reigning deity of the village. It is said that one day he caused the sun to set during daytime right above the stupa or the modern day sun temple. Modern day villagers don’t know that relics were immersed in the stupa. They simply believe that Punda Baba dug a hole five thousand feet down and immersed some sort of machine to control the sun.  Huen Tsang goes on to describe the stupas cupola. When he visited the stupa, it had tilted. The cupola was the saving grace. It is today preserved in the sun temples sanctum sanctorum and prayed to as the sun God. The villagers have surrounded the cupola with new marble and pray to it. The ancestors of the local priest where brought here by Sakraditya Raja who made the first Sanghdharma in Nalanda. I suspect the village alley that travels around the stupa is the ancient parikrama. And since Huen tsang states the stupa is in the middle of the royal precincts, that means the colony to the right of the parikrama or to the right of the colony alley that travels around the stupa (sun temple) is on top of King Ashokas palace itself.

(f) Koyla Rani: Huen Tsang goes on to describe a rock with the Buddhas footmark on it. He said it was near the stupa on the banks of the Ganges. I will quote the second paragraph of page 90 of his journal “Si-Yu-Ki.” He says, “By the side of the stupa and not far from it, in a vihara, is a great stone on which Tathagat walked. There is still the impressions of both his feet on it, about eighteen inches long and six inches broad, both the right and left impress have the circle sign, and ten toes are all infringed with the figures of flowers and forms of fishes which glisten brightly in the light.” In the village on the banks of the Ganges is a bunch of intricately carved rocks with Lord Buddhas footmark on it just as Huen Tsang had described. The villagers call it Koyla Rani. Lord Buddha stood on this rock and looked for the last time at Magadh when he crossed the Ganges on his way to Khushinagar. Villagers do not touch it. They don’t know what it is but revere it and occasionally pull out the grass that grows around it. On one rock you can see half the footmark of the Buddha just as Huen Tsang described. The rock is in pieces just as Huen Tsang described. He tells the story of how King Shashank broke it to pieces and threw it into the river. Legend has it that the rock jumped back onto land so the villagers fear it and refuse to touch it.  So basically the stupa or the sun temple, the stupas cupola, and the rock on the banks of the Ganges are ample proof of the site around them being that of King Ashokas palace.

(g) Rock on which Ashoka fed Bhikshus: Huen Tsang describes a huge flat rock with a hollow in which King Ashoka kept food for the Bhikshus. According to him this rock was between the hell he made to kill people and the relic stupa. I will quote the third last chapter of page 93 of his journal “Si-Yu-Ki.”  He says, “To the north of the old palace and to the south of the hell, is a great stone with a hollow trough in it. Ashoka raja commissioned the Genii as workmen to make this hollow to use for the food which he gave to the priests when he invited them to eat.” In the fields between the Kali temple in Sahnoura village and the stupa in Pandarak  is a huge flat rock with a hollow in which Ashoka kept food to feed the monks. It is just as Huen Tsang described. The villagers showed me the rock though they didn’t know what it was for. British Indigo planters used it to dry their Indigo.

(h) Lemuabad: Near the first Sanghdharma or the village of Chintamachak is a stupa named after the name of a fruit used as a medicine. I will quote the second chapter of page 95 of “Si-Yu-Ki.” Huen Tsang says, “By the side of the sanghdharma is a great stupa called O-mo-lo-kia, (amalaka) which is the fruit named as the medicine of India.” The stupa was constructed after Ashoka recuperated from grave illness. Huen Tsang Calls it O-mo-lo-kia. Samuel Beal says it is the Amla fruit and translates O-mo-lo-kia as  the Amalaka fruit. But this fruit is not available in this area. The medicinal fruit used in this area is Lemu or lime. Today near  Chintamanchak village which is the first sanghdharma is the village of Lemuabad which is on top of a stupa. Lemuabad means life after eating a lime and sounds similar to Huen Tsangs O-mo-lo-kia. Unfortunately people have settled on top of all the stupas in this area as it is a flood prone zone. The Mokameh to Patna highway used this mud mound or stupa so the highway passes over it right through the middle of Lemuabad village. It is clear this stupa was a commemorative stupa to commemorate King Ashokas recuperation from grave illness.

(i) Railli: Huen Tsang says northwest of the O-mo-lo-kia (Modern day Lemuabad) stupa in the middle of an old sanghdharma is a stupa that is called “establishing the sound of the ghanta.” I will quote the last para of page 96 of Si-Yu-Ki. “To the north west of the Amalaka stupa, in the middle of an old sanghdharma, is a stupa; it is called ‘establishing the sound of the ghanta (kin-ti).’” From this paragraph we realize religious debates took place between Buddhists and Hindus here. Every time the Buddhists won the bell would ring making a din informing the people of Pataliputra of the victory. Today northwest of Lemuabad village is a village called Railli. Like Lemuabad it is on top of a stupa. The name itself means to make a din. The local folklore in the village is that debates took place here. According to Huen Tsang the heretics (Hindus) once won the debate for 14 years in a row. They didn’t allow the bell to ring until a disciple of Nagarjuna came from south India and challenged the heretics (Hindus) to a debate and won. The bell once more rang. Sadly that very same bell was stolen forty years ago or we would have still had it.

(j) Feared Brahmins house: Huen Tsang further goes on to say north of the Ghanta (bell) stupa was the abode of a feared learned Brahmin who was undefeatable in debate. I will quote the single line of the last chapter in page 99 of Huen Tsangs “Si-Yu-Ki.” He says, “To the north of the stupa built where the ghanta was sounded is an old foundation. This is the dwelling place of a Brahmin that was inspired by demons.” A learned Buddhist whom Samuel Beal calls Asvaghosha defeats the Brahmin and silences him. Today on that spot north of Railli village or the ghanta stupa is a Hindu temple called Jagdamba sthan where they pray to Balbir Das a great Brahmin who built many temples all over north India.

(k) (1) Pachmahala: According to Huen Tsang when King Ashoka made 84000 stupas some of Buddhas relics were left so Ashoka made five more stupas to house  the remaining relics. To quote the second paragraph of page 94 of Huen Tsang’s “Si-Yu-Ki” he says, “To the south west of the mountain is a collection of five stupas. The foundation are lofty but ruinous; what remains however, is a good height. At a distance they look like little hills. Each of them is several tens of paces in front. Men in after days tried to build on top of these little stupas. The records of India state, ‘in old times when Ashoka Raja built the 84000 stupas, there was still remaining five measures of relics. Therefore he erected with exceptional grandeur five other stupas, remarakable for their spiritual portents. With a view to indicate the fivefold spiritual body of the Buddha.” This is easily found next to Railli stupa. There is a village called Pach Mahala. In English Pach Mahala means five palaces. There are no palaces here and locals wonder why it got the name. The village is made up of five colonies situated on five mud mounds which are the stupas.  Huen Tsang and I have solved a local riddle. Why this village is called Pachmahala. (2) Sahari: Unfortunately Pach Mahala village doesn’t lie south west of the stone house. And since I have full faith in Huen Tsangs accuracy the second option is the five mud mounds in Sahari village next to a lake. Here too, like the Pandarak Buddha relic stupa, the Sahari village stupa is a sun temple. So it is definitely a Buddha relic stupa with a similar story of the Pandarak Buddha relic stupa. This is also most probably Huen Tsangs five Ashokan Buddha relic stupas.

(j) According to Huen Tsang emperor Ashoka loved his brother Mahendra. The latter was a recluse who enjoyed meditating in the solitude of hills. Ashoka wanted his brother to live by him so he got a mountain house built which looked like a hill. This is what Huen Tsang writes in the second paragraph of page 93 in his journal “Si-Yu-Ki.” He says, “The king said if you wish to subdue your heart in quiet, you have no need to live in the mountain fastnesses. To meet your wishes I will construct you a dwelling. Accordingly, he summoned the Genii to his presence and said to them. On the morrow I am about to give a magnificent feast. I invite you to come together to the assembly but you must each bring for your own seat a great stone.” King Ashoka then goes on to make the Genii build a hilly room with the stone they brought along. This was for his brother Mahendra. I located that rocky house in a village called Dheebar which is North West to NTPC on the banks of the Ganges. Today there is a Thakubari or Shiva temple on top of that hill house. It is on the banks of the Ganges and is called Dheebar. The villages name is also Dheebar which itself implies a rocky lonely high ground. This is what it means in the local Bihari language. The villagers say the temple was originally made of rocks and the new temple was made on top of the old rocky one. They say it is Khandani which in Hindi means royal lineage. This is why I identified this temple with King Ashokas rocky mountain house. Royal lineage or Khandani meant it was his.

(k) In addition to Dheebar there is a holy bathing spot which carries mahendars name. That is Mahenderghat. It has the house of the Genii's which is the name Huen Tsang gives king Ashokas engineers. The rocks can be found here.

(L) According to Huen Tsang the city of Pataliputra was huge, approximately 70 Li’s or 63000 feet round.  By ‘round’ Huen Tsang means length and breadth of the city and not measurements in square feet. So basically I have found all the ten places Huen Tsang described as parts of ancient Pataliputra city. If we take the entire length of NTPC power plant which is on the city itself and the villages north to it. I mean the villages of Pandarak, Railli, Lemuabad, Sahnoura, Pachmahala and Dheebar, the entire area covered by these places equals to 63000 feet in length and breath. From this area we get an idea on how huge Pataliputra was. This area is definitely Huen Tsangs Pataliputra.

I have described in detail all the spots that Huen Tsang visited in the ancient city of Pataliputra. We must remember that Huen Tsang had seen a degenerated decaying old city which was on the downswing. The huge colonies seem to have disappeared leaving behind six to seven tiny villages. You can view the places described in the above report of the city in my Youtube channel “Buddha Exhumed.” There are ten videos of ten places I discovered amongst them one is on Pataliputra. For further proof that the area under Barh NTPC and the villages north to it was Pataliputra we must take note of the distance and bearing of the city in relation to Gaya. As previously stated Huen Tsang travelled 450 Li’s south west from Pataliputra to Gaya. That will be 80 miles south west to Gaya. If you measure the distance of Barh NTPC from Gaya, the mileage is exactly 80 miles south west from the power plant to the town of Gaya. I will describe the route he takes. 

Here is the link to the video I made of the sites that are Huen Tsangs Pataliputra.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl7wqjowcMc&t=25s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl7wqjowcMc&t=1771s