1/ Tamralipti, one of India's first ancient ports; is identified at modern day Tamluk in West Bengal (around 100 km from Kolkata)

A humble museum located on a congested shopping street is all that remains as an ode to its erstwhile splendour.

A thread on its antiquity.

2/ The earliest mention of Tamralipti is in Mahabharata, which mentions Bheema reducing to subjection the rulers of this kingdom by the sea.

3/ ASI excavations at Tamralipti have yielded copper coins and terracotta figure dating to Sunga period (3rd C. BC), and objects which indicate overseas contact of Tamralipti with the Roman world.

4/ Ptolemy mentions the port city in his geography under the name 'Tamalites' corresponding to Pali Tamalitti.

In the days of Mauryas, the Indian missions to Ceylon passed through Tamralipti.

5/ Asoka's son Mahendra is said to have taken a journey by water from Patliputra to Tamralipti, and on to Ceylon.

6/ A few centuries later, when Chinese pilgrims visited India, the place was a principal centre of trade, and place of embarkation to Ceylon, Java, China, and land of 'Yavanas' in the west.

7/ Fa Hein noted a strong maritime settlement for Buddhists at Tamralipti and spent two years at the place studying manuscripts. He refers to 22 buddhist monasteries in the city.

8/ Hiuen Tsang too noted ten monasteries here, and also mentions a 200 ft high stupa built by Asoka by the side of the city.

9/ Yijing (or I-Tsing), another Chinese traveler in 7th C. notes his arrival at Tamralipti, mentions it to be a rich place with 5-6 monastries, and describes in detail the Buddhist practices prevalent there, and how he learnt Sanskrit while spending 5 months at the place.

10/ The current Barghabhima temple, one of the 51 shakti peeths, was built on the ancient mounds of Tamralipti, as per ASI excavations carried out in 1920s.

11/ The decline of this famous port commenced after 8th C., and not much is conclusively known beyond this.

Such a glorious theater of history is not on mainstream maps today. Is this the churning of time, or neglect, is up for debate.

Thread ends.

Source of information in this thread: Tāmraliptī (Taṁluk)
T. N. Ramachandran
Artibus Asiae, Vol. 14, No. 3 (1951), pp. 226-239