Running along the left-hand side of the road as you walk from Mahasthan town towards the museum, the Citadel, or what’s left of it, forms a rough rectangle covering more than 2 sq km. It was once surrounded on three sides by the then-mighty Karatuya River. Hindus still make an annual pilgrimage to the river in mid-April.
Probably first constructed under the Mauryan empire in the 3rd century BC, the site shows evidence of various Hindu empires, as well as Buddhist and Muslim occupations. The Citadel fell into disuse around the time of the Mughal invasions.
Most of the visible brickwork dates from the 8th century, apart from that added during restoration. Nowadays there isn’t a lot left to see aside from the edge of the exterior walls – some of which rise three or four metres above the ground level – and various unidentifiable grassy mounds.
Not far inside the first entranceway you come to if you walk from Mahasthan town, you’ll see jiyat kunda (the Well of Life), an 18th-century well, the waters of which were said to have supernatural healing powers. From here you can walk the length of the citadel, roughly following the line of the main road, to the museum, which is located just outside the far entrance to the site. The Citadel’s interior is now used mostly as farmland and is good picnic territory.
