Ratnagiri Buddhist monastery, Odisha

Address

Ratnagiri Buddhist monastery Udayagiri- Ratnagiri RD, Odisha 755003

Diety

Mahavihara

Introduction

Ratnagiri is the site of a ruined mahavihara, once the major Buddhist monastery in modern Odisha, India. It is located on a hill in between the Brahmani and Birupa rivers in Jajpur district. It is close to other Buddhist sites in the area, including Lalitagiri and Udayagiri, and 100 km from the state capital Bhubaneswar.The Buddhist monuments were constructed from the 5th century onwards, with the last work in the 13th century, and the peak period of work done between about the 7th to 10th centuries. After perhaps the 16th century the site ceased to be used and fell into ruins. These were little known until the 1960s when major campaigns of excavations by the Archaeological Survey of India revealed the site, producing large quantities of very fine sculpture. Monastery 1 has been described as “the finest in terms of carved stone decoration to have survived in India”.Some of this was removed to museums elsewhere, with much left on site. The monastery known as Monastery 1, constructed in 8th-9th centuries AD, is the largest excavated monastery in Odisha. Its elaborately carved green doorway leads to 24 brick cells. There’s also an imposing seated Buddha sculpture, flanked by Padmapani and Vajrapani, in the central sanctum. The massive stone sculptures of Lord Buddha’s head at Ratnagiri are particularly awe-inspiring. More than two dozen heads of various sizes, magnificently depicting the serene meditative expression of Buddha, were found during the excavations. They’re considered to be fine works of art.