A number of monasteries grew up during the Pāla period in
ancient India in the eastern regions of the
Indian subcontinent, comprising
Bengal and
Magadha. According to Tibetan sources, five great Mahaviharas (universities) stood out:
Vikramashila, the premier university of the era;
Nalanda, past its prime but still illustrious; Somapura Mahavihara;
Odantapurā; and
Jaggadala. The mahaviharas formed a network; "all of them were under state supervision" and there existed "a system of co-ordination among them ... it seems from the evidence that the different seats of Buddhist learning that functioned in eastern India under the Pāla were regarded together as forming a network, an interlinked group of institutions," and it was common for great scholars to move easily from position to position among them.
Atisa, who resided at the Somapura Mahavihara (the largest university in ancient India at that time), traveled from Bengal to Tibet to preach Buddhism. The earliest form of the Bengali language began to emerge during the eighth century. The excavation at Paharpur, and the finding of seals bearing the inscription
Shri-Somapure-Shri-Dharmapaladeva-Mahavihariyarya-bhiksu-sangghasya, has identified the Somapura Mahavihara as built by the second Pala king
Dharmapala (
circa 781–821) of
Pāla Dynasty.
Tibetan sources, including Tibetan translations of
Dharmakayavidhi and
Madhyamaka Ratnapradipa,
Taranatha's history and
Pag-Sam-Jon-Zang, mention that Dharmapala's successor
Devapala (
circa 810–850) built it after his conquest of
Varendra. Over time Atisha's spiritual preceptor,
Ratnākaraśānti, served as a
sthavira of the vihara, Mahapanditacharya Bodhibhadra served as a resident monk, and other scholars spent part of their lives at the monastery, including Kalamahapada, Viryendra and Karunashrimitra. Some scholars suggest that it may have been destroyed by Chola mercenaries who accompanied Rajendra Chola's army during his invasion, and later established small kingdoms in Bengal after the campaign ended. A copperplate dated to 159 Gupta Era (479 AD) discovered in 1927 in the northeast corner of the monastery, mentions donation of a Brahmin couple to Jain Acharya Guhanandi of
Pancha-stupa Nikaya at Vata Gohli, identifiable as the neighbouring village of Goalapara. == Architecture ==