Nala Sopara, also known as Shurparaka (Sanskrit: , 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.
