Bangarh

Bangarh is an archaeological site situated in Gangarampur, West Bengal, India. It represents the ancient and medieval city of Kotivarsha (Koṭivarṣa, or Koṭīvarṣa), also called Devikot, which was an important commercial, religious, and administrative centre. Based on archaeological finds, Kotivarsha appears to have first become a significant town around the Shunga period. A local tradition of goddess worship appears to have been present by this point, which later becomes attested in literary sources. Kotivarsha was the capital of a vishaya (district) within the province of Pundravardhana during the Gupta period. By approximately the period c. 550–650, Kotivarsha was "a centre of the goddess-oriented Tantric Shaivism". It also appears to have held significance within Vaishnavism and Buddhism, with at least one work of Buddhist tantric literature describing the city as a pilgrimage site. Kotivarsha continued to hold significance during the period of Islamic rule. It is attested as a district capital as late as the 1590s.

Archaeological site data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).