7)Mathokhar Duh/ Kapotika: (Si-Yu-Ki page 182 to 184) From Indrasailaguha mountain or Natsar Huen Tsang travels 150 or 160 Li’s or twenty eight miles east to what he calls Kapotika or the pigeon monastery. I will quote the second paragraph of page 182 of Si-Yu-Ki. Huen Tsang writes, “Going 150 or 160 li to the north east of Indrasailaguha mountain, we come to the Kapotika (pigeon) convent. There are about 200 priests, who study the principle of the Sarvastava school of Buddhism.” This is Mathokhar Duh of today which sounds similar to Huen Tsangs Kapotika. The monastery is 2 to 3 Li’s or 2800 ft south west of the lonely hill. I will quote the second paragraph of page 183 of Si-Yu-Ki. Huen Tsang writes, “To the south of this 2 or 3 li’s we come to a solitary hill, which is of great height, and covered with forests and jungle.” The lonely hill is Mathokhar hill where stone quarrying is taking place and must be stopped. Huen Tsang states that there was an Ashokan stupa east of the monastery and a Sri Lankan monastery on the lonely hill or the Mathokhar hill. I realized Huen Tsang called it the lonely hill because it stood alone at a distance from the range of Sheikhpura hills. Mathokhar today has two parallel mud mounds about two thousand feet long with a beautiful lake in between. This lake isn’t mentioned by the Chinese traveler so I suspect it was made after him. Infact I suspect it was dug up to hide the ruins of the Sanghdharma. Huen Tsang stated there were 200 priests who study the principles of Sarvastavada school of Buddhism. That meant to house 200 priests the Sanghdharma must have been big. Today there is an Ashokan stupa to the west of the Sanghdharma. There is a mosque and five Muslim graves on the Ashokan stupa in Mathokhar. Next to the stupa is a hillock on which there is a rock with shadows of footmarks on the rock. The Muslims claim it is the Muslim dargah baba’s footmark. Huen Tsangs story tallies with the local folk lore of the place. According to him the Buddha preached here for a day. There was a bird catcher who caught and ate birds. One day he didn’t catch a bird. He thought it was a magic of the Buddha so he went to the latter and complained that he and his family were hungry. The Buddha told him to light a fire. The bird catcher did as asked and a dove seemed to drop into the fire. The bird catcher cooked it and fed his family. But he came back and repented for killing and became a holy man who never went back home. He stayed back in the Sanghdharma and became a learned Bhikshu and an arhat. The villagers of Mathokhar have a similar story to tell. Instead of the Buddha the Dargah Baba was camping there. He wanted to drink milk so he asked a milk man. The latter told him to milk a cow that never gave milk. But the Dargah Baba successfully milked it so the surprised Jadav boiled the milk and made Kheer and fed the Baba. The Jadavs name was Chulhai. After that he realized the dargah Baba was special. He repented and stayed back and never went home. He became a learned man. I believe the Ashokan stupa is dedicated to him. This story compared to Huen Tsangs story and the accurate Li’s from the Indrasailaguha mountain proves Mathokhar is Kapotika. On top of the Mathokhar hill is a rocky stupa which the locals pray to and call Rani Machola. This is the Sinhalese monastery Huen Tsang writes about. Another Buddhist stupa has been blown away by the stone quarriors. Huen Tsang had written about other monasteries on the hill. All these seem to have been quarried. Rani Machola proves that Mathokhar hill is Huen Tsangs lonely hill. Every Thursday and Friday villagers assemble on the Ashokan stupa and sacrifice goats and chickens to the Dargah Baba and cook it on the stupa itself. They are repeating the act of the bird catcher who cooked the dove.
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