Shalban Bihar is an archaeological site in Mainamati, Cumilla, Bangladesh. The ruins are in the middle of the Lalmai hills ridge, and these are of 7th-century Paharpur-style Buddhist viharas with 115 cells for monks. It operated through the 12th century.

Excavations have revealed many archaeological artifacts dated to between the 7th and 12th centuries. Most of them are kept in the Mainamati Museum now.

There are a series of hillocks, where the Northern part is called Mainamati and the Southern part is called Lalmai. Shalbon Bihar is in the Middle of Lalmai and Mainamati, which was established in the 8th century by Deva dynasty presently called Shalbon Bihar. It was one of the famous Buddhist Monasteries in the region of that time.

How To Go

This is very easy to reach Cumilla or its nearby places from the whole countryside of Bangladesh because it is situated near the Dhaka Chittagong Highway. From the capital Dhaka, it has the easiest way to reach by bus or train.

Using a bus service you can easily go to Cumilla. Dhaka to Cumilla has many bus services like Tisha, Asia Line, Royal Coach, Prime, etc. To get quick or best service you should have to select Asia Line / Tisha . But to go Cumilla Kotbari, Shalban Bihar, you have to first arrive at Cumilla Cantonment. Then you have to catch cantonment to Kotbari bus service, cost 20 TK. Then to reach the final destination Shalban Bihar you have to use CNG or auto-rickshaw.

Otherwise, u can use direct CNG or Microbus service by cost 200-250TK from the highway CNG stations