BAIRAT - EXCAVATED SITE

Bairat or ancient Viratnagar, the capital of Matsyadesa, is said to have been founded by king Virat, in whose kingdom the five Pandavas spent the thirteenth year of exile in disguise. The place is well-known for two Asokan inscriptions and important ancient Buddhist relics found here. Excavations carried out on the different terraces of this hill known as Bijak-ki-Pahari have yielded remains of a Mauryan circular stupa-shrine made of lime-plastered panels of brickwork alternating with twenty-six octagonal pillars of wood, preceded by monastic remains with a double row of cells arranged around an open square courtyard.