Research Paper
Identification of Kumrahar as Aśokārama (Kukkutārāma), Ancient Pātaliputra: A Forgotten Sacred Space
Authors: ANAND SINGH
Year: 2025, Volume: 16, Page/Article: 171-192, DOI: https://doi.org/10.47509/AA.2025.v16i.10
Abstract
Spooner’s excavation of Pātaliputra started a new kind of debate in the historical traditions of the Magadha region. Although his identification of Kumrahar as a Mauryan Palace was vehemently criticised and denounced by prominent historians like A. B. Keith and A. S. Altekar, echoes of his writings still reverberate in some distant corners of historical writings. Many still consider the Kumrahar archaeological remains a Mauryan Palace edifice. The examination of the archaeological facts and their cross-references in the Buddhist literature indicates that the Pillared Hall of Kumrahar was a part of Aśokārāma/Kukkutārāma built by Aśoka. The Hall, particularly, might be an assembly hall or uposathagāra, which not only facilitated fortnight assemblies of monks and nuns but also took important ecclesiastical decisions in the age of Aśoka. The paper will examine these threads from a microscopic view.
Keywords: Kumrahar, Aśokārāma, Kukkutārāma, uposathagāra