The seat of lost dynasties is how they name it. The Mainamati-Lalmal ridge, a group of hills, is located 114 km southeast of Dhaka and is about 8 km west of Comilla town. It was a center of Buddhist culture.
A wealth of knowledge concerning early Buddhist civilization can be found strewn throughout the hills’ slopes (7th to the 12th Century A.D.). Excavations conducted at Salban, in the middle of the ridge, reveal a sizable Buddhist Vihara (monastery) featuring a commanding central shrine. It has provided important insights into the governance of the Chandra and Deva kingdoms, who reigned in this region from the seventh and the twelfth centuries A.D.
The entire hilltop range is studded with more than fifty sites and spans around one square kilometer. The archaeological discoveries, which include votive stupas with Buddhist writings imprinted on them, bronze figures and caskets, coins, jewelry, and ceramics, are kept in a site museum.
