Sasmit Urges Centre to add Odisha Buddhist sites in national circuit

Kendrapada: Biju Janata Dal’s (BJD) Rajya Sabha member Sasmit Patra recently met Union minister of culture and tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in New Delhi, and submitted a detailed representation seeking formal inclusion of Ratnagiri, Udayagiri and Lalitgiri, known as “Diamond Triangle” , in national Buddhist Circuit framework and related tourism initiatives. The minister assured him of taking a favourable decision soon.Patra said inclusion of Odisha within the national Buddhist tourism framework would strengthen India’s cultural diplomacy, complement the Act East Policy, and promote balanced heritage tourism development across the country.During the meeting on Tuesday, Patra highlighted Odisha’s immense contribution to India’s Buddhist civilizational heritage.“The famous Buddhist sites of Lalitgiri, Ratnagiri and Udayagiri in Jajpur district and nearby areas are fit to be designated as World Heritage Sites. The excavation of numerous Buddha idols, stupas and monasteries in these sites is not only historically significant but also reveals the artistic excellence and iconographic know-how of the Buddhist era,” said Patra.The Udayagiri monastery, flanked by a U-shaped hill, almost identical to Ratnagiri, was excavated in 1986. Its gateway consists of two stone slabs, supporting a third as a lintel. The pillars are perpendicular. The idols of Buddha, Amitabha, Avalokiteswar, Vrjesane Buddha and Kurukulla were unearthed at Udayagiri, said Dr Patra.Lalitgiri in Cuttack district was first brought to notice by Chandrasekhar Banerjee in 1869, leading to subsequent documentation of the site by R P Chanda in 1927-28. Considering its archaeological importance, the ancient vestiges were declared centrally protected in 1937. Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) started excavation from 1985 to 1991 in Lalitgiri, revealing the remains of a massive Stupa on a hilltop, remains of an apsidal Chaitya Griha with a circular stupa at western end, the first of its kind in Odisha, said Patra.The archaeological treasures of Ratnagiri, known as “Hill of Jewels” were first noticed by M M Chakravarty in 1905. Extensive excavations, carried out by the ASI between 1958 and 1961, brought to light the remains of a magnificent Buddhist establishment consisting of a stupa, monastic complexes, shrines, votive stupas, a myriad of sculptures, architectural fragments and other antiquities, said Patra.“Also, located on Langudi, Lalitgiri, Ratnagiri and Udayagiri hills, Pushpagiri University, an ancient Buddhist centre of higher learning in the Kalinga region, functioned from 2nd to 11th centuries CE, and was visited by Chinese traveller Xuanzang,” said Patra.