Nala Sopara

Nala Sopara नालासोपारा
Naleshwar Mahadev Mandir in Alkapuri, Nalsopara East
Nickname(s): Sopara
Coordinates: 19°24′55″N 72°51′41″E / 19.4154°N 72.8613°E / 19.4154; 72.8613Coordinates: 19°24′55″N 72°51′41″E / 19.4154°N 72.8613°E / 19.4154; 72.8613
Country	India
State	Maharashtra
District	Palghar
Population (2001)
• Total	564,664
Languages
• Official	Marathi
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	401 203 to 401 209
Telephone code	401203
Vehicle registration	MH48
Vidhan Sabha constituency	Nalasopara

Nala Sopara, also known as Shurparaka (Sanskrit: शूर्पारक, lit. city of braves) or Sopara is a town within the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The town lies in the Palghar district of Maharashtra. The population of the city was 184,664 during the 2001 census. It also has railway station on the Western Railway Zone, approximately 35 km from Mumbai. It is governed by the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation (VVMC). Nala Sopara is accepted by scholars as the Suparaka or Supparak of ancient India and was a busy trade centre and an important seal of Buddhism. It was also one of the administrative units under the Satavahanas and is mentioned in the inscriptions of Karle, Nashik, Naneghat and Kanheri.

Nalasopara, in ancient times was the largest township on India's west coast and near to Sopara which was one of the chief ports of ancient India trading with Mesopotamia, Egypt, Cochin, Arabia, Greek, Rome and Eastern Africa. Proof of Ashokan inscriptions have also been recovered from Sopara, Buddhist text gives details that it was a prominent Buddhist area. During excavation ruins of a Buddhist Stupa were found. From the center of the stupa (inside a brick built chamber) a large stone coffer was excavated which contained eight bronze images of Maitreya Buddha which belong to the 8th-9th century A.D. The coffer contained a relic caskets, numerous gold flowers and fragments of a begging bowl. A silver coin of Gautamiputra Satakarni was also found from the mound.

The stupa site of Sopara locally known as Baruda Rajacha Killa was excavated by Bhagwanlal Indraji in 1882 and yielded a fragment of the VIII Rock Edict of Asoka along with a large stone coffer, jewellery, a copper casket and seven Buddha images and a Maitreya image. The site was re-excavated by M.M.Qureshi of the Archaeological Survey of India in 1939-40, when several stone lintels and two small stupas were found on the south side of the main stupa in addition to a few sherds of plain glazed ware of the Muslim period. Anwar Munshi (1972) found a number of Satavahana lead coins at Sopara.