Udhayagiri Buddhist Complex, Udhayagiri

Address

Udhayagiri Buddhist Complex Ratnagiri- lalitgiri Rd, Odisha 754292

Diety

Mahavihara

Introduction

Udayagiri is the largest Buddhist complexin the Indian state of Odisha. It is composed of major stupas and monasteries (viharas). Together with the nearby complexes of Lalitgiri and Ratnagiri, it is part of the “Diamond Triangle” of the “Ratnagiri-Udayagiri-Lalitgiri” complex. It used to be thought that one or all of these were the PushpagiriVihara known from ancient records, but this has now convincingly located at a different site. Per epigraphical artifacts found at the site, Udayagiri’s historical name was “MadhavapuraMahavihara.” This Buddhist complex, preceded by the Ratnagiri and Lalitgiri sites, with their monasteries, is believed to have been active between the 7th and the 12th centuries.The Udayagiri site has been dated back to 1st-13th centuries AD. Although it was discovered in 1870, excavations didn’t commence until 1985. They’ve been undertaken in two phases across two settlements around 200 meters apart — Udayagiri 1 from 1985 to 1989, and Udayagiri 2 from 1997 to 2003. The remains indicate that the settlements were called “MadhavapuraMahavihara” and “SimhaprasthaMahavihara”. The stupa at Udayagiri 1 has four seated stone statues of Lord Buddha, enshrined and facing each direction. The monastery there is also impressive, with 18 cells and a shrine chamber that has an intricately carved ornamental facade. The excavation turned up many Buddhist images and stone sculptures of Buddhist divinities as well.