Zend Anwar

The most ancient Chittagong Buddhist Monastery was founded by the former members of Bangladesh Buddhist Association known as Chittagong Buddhist Association in 1889 on a piece of land in Nandan Kanan of Chittagong city. The Chittagong Buddhsit Association started its activities for regeneration of Theravada Buddhism in this part of the World known presently as Bangladesh.

The founder President and General Secretary was Ven. U. Gunameju Mahathero and Nazir Krishna Chandra Chowdhury respectively. It may be mentioned here that, Chittagong being the root of the origin of the Buddhists of this region the Chittagong Buddhist Association had been playing an important role in transforming the Chittagong Buddhist Monastery into a central Buddhist Monastery of Bangladesh. To build a well-planned temple it needs a pleasant place. And to buy a land it needs a handsome fund. It was then a tough task to collect fund for a uneducated, poor, superstitious, low-paid and tiny community. It was a absurd plan to build a temple by a single person’s or joint funding. Then they have taken a combined step to make a handsome and strong fund from the donation of devotee persons from the Buddhist and other community. The process of collecting fund had taken a long 32 years starting from 1872 to end of 1904. Ven. U. Gunamaeho Mahathero and Nazir Krishna Chandra Chowdhury was still the president and general secretary respectively and remained for a long time. The old aged and sick Ven. U. Gunameju Mahathero passed away in 1895 and the second Sangharaja Achariya Chandramohan Mahasthavir had become the new president of the association. Both Sangharaja and Nazir continued their best effort to build a temple. At first, they have bought the land beside the old Church road on the west side of Loyal road. But the land had been sold cause of its narrowness and small in size. Henceforth, the present land of Enayet Bazar/Nandan Kanan had selected for the temple. And finally the land had purchased from Mrs. Subhadra Chowdhury and her husband Mr. Radhakanta Chowdhury worth of Tk. 243.00 in 1899 by the name of the association. After the independence of Bangladesh, the Government has also given some more space of land adjacent with the present temple. Now the monastery is standing on the 2 kanhis of land. Initially, a single storied building was constructed part by part. But now the building has shaped a two storied with a small temple which is on the eastern side of the main building knows as “Buragoshai Mandir”. A very beautiful Buddha Statue was found at the time of excavation of a hill during the construction of the General Hospital Building and it was enshrined here during the British regime. Later on, during the Pakistan regime another beautiful Buddha Statue was donated by the Abbot of Wat Pakum Bhashichereon Bangkok Ven. Phra Dhammadhiraj Mahamuni. It was enshrined on a beautiful alter in the main shrineroom of the monastery on the first floor of the main building. The whole complex of the Chittagong Buddhist Monastery has come to the present shape by the donation collected from the generous Buddhists, different organizations of home and abroad and from Government agencies time to time. Considering the importance of this Monastery to the Buddhists of Bangladesh a Bow Sapling donated by the Govt. of Sri Lanka was planted by Gen. Ziaur Rahman, the then President of Bangladesh in the premises of the Monastery in 1978. Later on, a plot of land adjoining the monastery was also donated by Gen. H. M. Ershad in 1988, another former President of Bangladesh.

[Collected]