🧿 Sri Surya Pahar

Sri Surya Pahar, located about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) southeast of Goalpara and about 132 kilometres (82 mi) northwest of Guwahati, is a significant but relatively unknown archaeological site in Assam, India. Goalpara is the nearest city from the site. The site is a hilly terrain where several rock-cut Shiva lingas, votive stupas and deities of the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain pantheon are scattered in an area of about one km. The site is centered on seven hills (Pahar) of Sri Surya which are profusely filled up with Shiva Lingas. People have found 99,999 Shiva Lingas were engraved here by Vyasa in order to build up a second Kashi and once it was one of the holiest pilgrimage sites in the region. There is no historical evidence exactly how many Lingams once dotted in these hills, but still there are hundreds of them, from tiny to large in size, scattered everywhere at the foot of the hill and covering the extensive area after centuries of neglect and pilferage. The exact number of Lingas in the hill is yet to be counted scientifically.