Gokul Medh

Gokul Medh an excavated mound in the village of Gokul under Bogra Sadar Upazila, about two km southwest of mahasthan citadel. It is popularly known as laksindarer medh or Behula-Laksindarer Basar-ghar (the nuptial room of the traditional heroine and hero of a popular ballad, Behula and Laksindar. It is also associated with the angry snake godess manasa. Excavations in 1934-36 by NG Majumdar revealed a gigantic shrine or stupa plinth built in the terraced cellular style of construction. The plinth was built of 172 blind rectangular cells packed solidly with earth and arranged in gradually rising tiers to support a towering polygonal shrine. This kind of cellular style of terraced construction, in which many buttress-walls were erected side by side to support a central structure on top, is a very significant feature in the architecture of ancient Bangladesh.

This structure forms the base of a shrine or stupa of 6th-7th century AD. Some terracotta plaques of the late Gupta period associated with the shrine were also found. On top of this 5 metre high podium, a square temple with a porch was built during the Sena period (11th - 12th century AD). A stone-slab was discovered at the centre of the shrine; it consists of twelve shallow holes with a larger hole in the centre containing a tiny gold leaf bearing the figure of a recumbent bull in relief. This indicates that the shrine was a Siva temple. [Ayub Khan]