Gokul Medh

Gokul Medh is an archaeological site in Bangladesh. It is an excavated mound in the village of Gokul in Bogra Sadar Upazila, Bogra, about 2 km southwest of Mahasthangarh. It is also known as Lakshindar Medh, as it is known in local Bengali folklore as the bridal chamber of Behula and Lakshinder, protagonists of a ballad. The mound served as the base of a Buddhist shrine or stupa built from the 7th century AD onwards.

History

The site was excavated in 1934-36 by archaeologist N. G. Majumdar. The excavation revealed the base of a stupa built in the terraced cellular style of construction. The base consists of 172 tightly packed blind rectangular cells and arranged in gradually rising tiers to support a polygonal shrine above it. The site features several Terracotta plaques from the late Gupta period as well as a square temple added later in the Sena period. During excavation, a stone-slab was discovered at the center of the shrine, which had twelve shallow depressions surrounding a larger depression at the center containing a tiny gold leaf with the figure of a recumbent bull in relief. This indicates the shrine's use as a Shiva temple at some point.