Near the Brahmani, Birupa and Kelua rivers in Odisha, about 85 kilometers from modern Bhubaneswar are three notable Groups of Buddhist monuments – Lalitagiri, Udayagiri and Ratnagiri. They are isolated hills close to each other and regionally referred to as the diamond triangle. The Udayagiri Buddhist site is the largest of the three, and among the largest Buddhist monuments complex in eastern India.
Odisha Buddhist monuments are mentioned in early Indian manuscripts and at least one 7th-century Chinese manuscript as Pushpagiri – another famed universities complex in the 1st millennium, competing with the more well known Nalanda far to its north. Pushpagiri was known for its emphasis and studies on Yoga philosophy. The Chinese manuscript attributed to Hiuen Tsang (Xuanzang) mentions this monasteries–university complex as "Pusi-po-kili", not far from the sea shore, and the Chinese traveller states that the people in this region of India followed Mahayana Buddhism and Hinduism. The Pushpagiri collection of Buddhist complexes in Odisha flourished at least through the 11th-century, as confirmed by manuscripts left by exchange-scholars in the kingdoms of Odisha, China and Tibet.
Early 20th-century scholars speculated that the Udayagiri was Pushpagiri, with the proposal that the Bay of Bengal was further inland just 1000 years ago. This theory was rejected after Langudi site was excavated northeast of Cuttack in the 1990s and early 2000s. These exacavations revealed several inscriptions, one of which is in Brahmi script and calls the Langudi site as Pushpasabhargiri vihara. The Langudi site, in addition, more closely resembles the notes of Hiuen Tsang – the 7th-century Chinese pilgrim.
The Udayagiri site is large and has many monuments. The site's significance was discovered and speculated by colonial era archaeologists and historians by 1870. In the decades that followed, some of its artwork was taken away to museums in India and Europe. A more complete picture of Udayagiri site's significance and many more monuments were unearthed during excavations between 1984 and 2005. These discoveries are now generally grouped for visitors as Udayagiri 1 and 2.
The Udayagiri 1 site has a notable Mahastupa on a raised platform, with four seated Buddhas – in four different mudras. These statues face the cardinal directions. East of the Mahastupa are partially excavated statues such as of Padmapani, all beautifully carved. These are dressed with the sacred thread across the chest, depict four hands, one holding a lotus, and show Hindu-like iconography. Above them is an array of yogi in different yoga postures. Further down the walkway are ruins of red brick monasteries, likely destroyed after the 11th-century because the last inscriptions discovered here in different monuments are from the 10th and 11th centuries.
The exacavated monastery 1 of Udayagiri site 1 has a brick-based shrine. Inside is a seated Buddha that was moved into this shrine, as the floor and walls are detached and of different materials than the statue. The shrine has an exquisitely carved door frame with miniature jewelry-like details and in a style that is found in historic sites in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The Udayagiri Buddhist site preserves one of the best samples of this 1st millennium art tradition.
The Udayagiri 2 site is larger than Udayagiri 1. It has several monasteries, shrines, votive stupas and sculptures. Their style vary from the simple Hinayana architecture to more decorated Mahayana architecture – likely because the oldest monuments here are from 1st-century BCE and later structures from post-8th century CE. The artwork at Udayagiri 2 is similar to the sophisticated and complex Krishna river valley Buddhist sites. The Udayagiri 2 also has a shrine, but its doorway along with other artwork was moved to museums such as one in Patna, another in Cuttack. Several structures of Udayagiri 2 has been reconstructed in recent decades to prevent their collapse and to better preserve the site.
Additional rock-cut monuments are found on rocks on trails near the Udayagiri 1 and Udayagiri 2 complex, a large collection near the top of the hill. When visited along with Ratnagiri and Lalitagiri, the Udayagiri Buddhist site shows the artistic and architectural achievements of 1st millennium Indian shilpins. They are also notable for the empirical evidence for evolution of Buddhist monuments in Odisha, and the syncretism of the arts in Mahayana Buddhism, Vajrayana Buddhism and Hinduism.
Location: 20.643554 N, 86.26984 E
- East of Krusnadaspur (8 kilometers)
- Northeast of Bhubaneswar (84 kilometers)
- near National Highway 53 and National Highway 16
Site is also known as / synonyms:
- Udayagiri hills
- Pushpagiri sites of Odisha (early 20th century, incorrect)
- Madhavapura Mahavihara
- Simhaprastha Mahavihara
- (Note: many towns and historic sites in India are called Udayagiri and Pushpagiri, such as in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana – some are very far from Odisha; there is a different Jain and Hindu site in Odisha which is also called Udayagiri; the use of Udayagiri and Pushpagiri names for different sites is found in Indian manuscripts, inscriptions and they remain in use in the 21st century).
Nearby historic sites:
- Lalitagiri Buddhist site
- Ratnagiri Buddhist site
- Mahakala temple and Jain monuments
- Monolithic elephant of Kaimabada
Sources and Further Reading:
- P. Mukerjee (1957), Lalitagiri, Udayagiri & Ratnagiri, The Mahabodhi Society Orissa
- Thomas E Donaldson (2001), Iconography of the Buddhist sculpture of Orissa, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts : Abhinav Publications
- P Sahoo (2004), Buddhist Centers in Orissa: An Overview, Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Volume 65, pp. 147–153
- Trivedi, P K (2012). Further Excavations at Udayagiri-2, Odisha (2001-2003). Archaeological Survey of India. New Delhi
- Umakanth Mishra (2019), Continuity and change in the sacred landscape of the Buddhist site of Udayagiri Odisha, Routledge, ISBN 978-04292-741-69
- Akshaya Jena (2017), Tourism prospects of Langudi Puspagiri, Odisha Review: November, pp. 82–84
- Saurabh Saxena (2020), Udayagiri – The Sunrise Hill, Puratattva
Photos (click to zoom):
Udayagiri 1: |
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 Buddhist temple, Udayagiri |
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 Udayagiri vihara |
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