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{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Telhara
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| other_name = Telhāḍa
| settlement_type = village
| image_skyline =
| image_alt =
| image_caption =
| nickname =
| pushpin_map = India Bihar
| pushpin_label_position = right
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Bihar, India
| coordinates = {{coord|25.226334|N|85.181587|E|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{flag|India}}
| subdivision_type1 = [[States and territories of India|State]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[Bihar]]
| subdivision_type2 = [[List of districts of India|District]]
| subdivision_name2 = Nalanda
| subdivision_type3 = [[Gram Panchayat]]
| subdivision_name3 = [[Ekangarsarai]]
| established_title = 
| established_date =
| founder =
| named_for =
| government_type =
| governing_body =
| unit_pref = Metric
| area_footnotes =
| area_total_km2 =
| area_rank =
| elevation_footnotes =
| elevation_m =
| population_footnotes =
| population_total =
| population_as_of =
| population_rank =
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_demonym =
| demographics_type1 = Languages
| demographics1_title1 = Spoken
| demographics1_info1 = [[Hindi language|Hindi]], [[Magahi language|Magadhi]]
| timezone1 = [[Indian Standard Time|IST]]
| utc_offset1 = +5:30
| postal_code_type = [[Postal Index Number|PIN]]
| postal_code = 801306
| registration_plate = [[List of RTO districts in India#BR.E2.80.94Bihar|BR]]-21
| blank1_name_sec1 = Nearest cities
| blank1_info_sec1 = [[Jehanabad]] (22 km)<br> [[Bihar Sharif]] (35 km)<br> [[Patna]] (63 km)
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
'''Telhara''' is a village in [[Ekangarsarai]] block of [[Nalanda district]], in [[Bihar]]. It is also the site of the Telhara monastery which dates back to the 1st-century CE.<ref name="Kulshreshtha2017">{{cite book|author=Salila Kulshreshtha|title=From Temple to Museum: Colonial Collections and Umā Maheśvara Icons in the Middle Ganga Valley|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uJU4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT172|date=5 October 2017|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-351-35609-1|page=172}}</ref>

== Buddhist monastery ==
{{Main|Telhara monastery}}

Telhara was the site of a [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] monastery in ancient India. It has been mentioned as ''[[Teladhaka]]'' in the writings of the Chinese traveller [[Hiuen Tsang]], who visited the place in the 7th century CE.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Leoshko |first1=Janice |title=Buddhist Images from Telhara, a Site in Eastern India |journal=South Asian Studies |date=1988 |volume=4 |pages=90–97 |doi=10.1080/02666030.1988.9628371 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02666030.1988.9628371?needAccess=true&journalCode=rsas20|url-access=subscription }}</ref> It is mentioned in an inscription found at Nālandā which mentions a temple restored a man named Bālāditya, a Jyāvisa of Telāḍhaka who had emigrated from Kauśāmbī, in the eleventh year of [[Mahipala]] Deva.<ref>[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_P%C4%81las_of_Bengal/Chapter_4 The Palas of Bengal, R. D. BANERJI, 1915]</ref>

It has been also mentioned in the ''[[Ain-i-Akbari]]'' as Tiladah, and is shown as one of the 46 mahals (administrative units) of the Bihar [[sarkar (administrative division)|sarkar]]. Telhara was shown as a [[pargana]] in the maps prepared by the [[East India Company]] administration during 1842–45.<ref name="Exc_Report_Atul">{{cite web | url = http://yac.bih.nic.in/Documents/Telhara-(Nalanda)-Excavation-Report.pdf | title = Telhara (Nalanda) Excavation - A Brief Report (PDF) | author = Dr. Atul Kumar Verma | accessdate = 2014-01-15 | archive-date = 28 June 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140628083818/http://yac.bih.nic.in/Documents/Telhara-(Nalanda)-Excavation-Report.pdf | url-status = dead }}</ref>

The ruins of Telhara were mentioned in an 1872 letter by A. M. Broadley, the then Magistrate of Nalanda. Broadley noted that a large number of stone and metal images were often found during the digging of graves at the top of one of the mounds. Metal images found were melted down.<ref>Explored Sculptural Heritage of Telhara, District Nalanda, Bihar: A Recent Visit, Pampa Biswas, Puravritta
Volume 1, 2016, p. 167–182</ref> The State Government of Bihar started a new archaeological excavation of the site in December 2009, and later by the Bihar Heritage Development Society in 2020-2022. The work unearthed ancient pottery, antiques, and the remains of a three-storeyed structure mentioned by Xuanzang. Evidence of prayer halls and residential cells in the monastery has been found. The excavation revealed the following chronological layers:<ref>"Sri Prathamsivapura Mahavihara:Excavating an Early Medieval Buddhist Monastery at Telhara in Magadh (Eastern India) 2020-2022" by Dr. Bijoy Kumar Choudhary, Dr. Arun Kumar, Dr. Oishi Roy, Dr. Amit Ranjan, {{ISBN|9788196122249}}</ref>

[[File:Bodhisattva Lokeshvara Museum Rietberg RVI 106.jpg|thumb|Bodhisattva Lokeshvara from Telhara, new at [[Rietberg Museum]] ]]

# [[Northern Black Polished Ware]] (circa 6th century BCE to 2nd Century BCE)
# [[Sunga-Kushan Empire|Kushan]] (2nd Century BCE to 4th century CE)
# [[Gupta Empire|Gupta]] (4th to 6th century CE)
# [[Early Medieval]] (mid 6th century CE to 13th century CE )
# [[Medieval]] (13th century CE to mid-18th century CE )
# [[Colonial India|Colonial]] (18th century to mid-20th century CE)

A number of sculptures from the site had been moved to museums during the [[British Raj]]. The [[Indian Museum]] in [[Kolkata]] houses the [[Maitreya]] and the twelve-armed [[Avalokitesvara|Avalokiteswar]] images from Telhara. A Pala sculpture from the site is present at the [[Rietberg Museum]] in [[Zurich]]. Telhara has a mosque, which is said to have been built with the materials carried from the ruins of the Buddhist monastery.<ref name="Exc_Report_Atul"/> One pillar contained an inscription that mentions the place-name Telāḍhaka.

Remains of an ancient university (Mahavihara) on the site were unearthed in 2014.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/Another-ancient-university-found-in-Nalanda/articleshow/28807538.cms|title=Another ancient university found in Nalanda | Patna News - Times of India|website=[[The Times of India]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160418/jsp/bihar/story_80647.jsp#.VzVrEvl97IU|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422190830/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160418/jsp/bihar/story_80647.jsp#.VzVrEvl97IU|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 April 2016|title=Telhara university}}</ref>

A state Museum is being established to store the artifacts found.

== Administration ==

Telhara comes under the administration of the [[Ekangarsarai]] [[gram panchayat]]. There are 5 census villages in the Telhara area:<ref name="NPD_2011">{{cite web | url = http://panchayatdirectory.gov.in/adminreps/viewGPmapcvills.asp?gpcode=95566&rlbtype=V | title = Reports of National Panchayat Directory | accessdate = 2014-01-15 }}</ref>

# Hajipur
# Khajepura
# Rasulpur
# Telhara
# Telhara Sani

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://nalanda.bih.nic.in/Biharmaps1/NALANDA_EKANGARSARAI.pdf Map showing Telhara's location within the Ekangarsarai block]

{{Nalanda district}}

[[Category:Villages in Nalanda district]]

{{Nalanda-geo-stub}}

Telhara, Nalanda district - Revision history

OdessaProsser28: Created A Place