ORISSA

The recent findings from excavations and the identifications of a number of sites with Buddhist remains open up a new vista in the field of Buddhist tourism in Orissa. Dhauli hill on the bank of the river Daya is a little away from the main road to Puri/Konark from Bhuvaneshwar. Ashoka changed his mind in favour of spiritual conquests in preference to exploits after the Kalinga war which was fought here in the 3rd Century BC This place motivated the Kalinga-Nippon-Buddha Sangha to establish a peace pagoda or Shanti Stupa at Dhauli along with the construction of a monastery called Saddharma Vihar.

Lalitagiri, the earliest Buddhist complex of 1st Century AD has a huge brick monastery, the remains of a chaitya hall, a number of votive stupas and a renovated stone stupa at the apex of a small rugged sand stone hill dominates the rural greenery around. At Ratnagiri, excavations revealed the establishment of a Buddhist center from the time of Narasimha Gupta Baladitya (the first half of the sixth century AD). At Udaigiri, excavations brought to light a sprawling complex of brick monastery with a number of Buddhist sculptures. In fact the entire area is found located at the foothills of a large hill acting as the backdrop of the area.