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Concept
Buddhism in Bangladesh
Summary
Buddhism is the third-largest religious affiliation and formed about 0.63% of the population of Bangladesh. It is said that Buddha once in his life came to this region of East Bengal to spread his teachings and he was successful in converting the local people to Buddhism, specially in the Chittagong division and later on Pala empire propagate and patronized Buddhist religion throughout the Bengal territory. About 1 million people in Bangladesh adhere to the Theravada school of Buddhism. Over 65% of the Buddhist population is concentrated in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region, where it is the predominant faith of the Rakhine, Chakma, Marma, Tanchangya, other Jumma people and the Barua. The remaining 35% are Bengali Buddhists. Buddhist communities are present in the urban centers of Bangladesh, particularly Chittagong and Dhaka.
Chandra dynastyPala Empire and Khadga dynasty
Legend said that Gautama Buddha came to the region to spread Buddhism, and it was speculated that one or two individuals became monks to follow in his footsteps. However, Buddhism did not gain much support until the reign of Asoka when Buddhism gained a toehold. The Pala Empire that controlled the Indian subcontinent spread many Buddhist ideologies in modern Bangladesh and built many monasteries such as the Mahasthangarh and the Somapura Mahavihara. During the Pala Dynasty, a famous teacher named Atisha was born in the city of Bikrampur and spread Mahayana Buddhism.
Chandra Dynasty's Puranchandra and Subarnachandra adopted Buddhism, as did their successors Trailokyachandra and Srichandra who ruled Harikel and Chandradwip (Barisal). The Khadga Dynasty was a Buddhist dynasty of kings that carried the surname Bhatt. They made several temples and monasteries. King Rajabhata was for example a very committed Mahayanist Buddhist.
Buddhism in various forms appears to have been prevalent at the time of the Turkic conquest in 1202. The invading armies found numerous monasteries, which they destroyed.
Official source
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