Ratnagiri Buddhist Site

News: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has uncovered remarkable Buddhist remains during fresh excavations at the historic Ratnagiri site in Jajpur district.

About Ratnagiri Buddhist Site

• Location– It is located 100 km northeast of Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
• It is part of the famous Diamond Triangle of Odisha along with Udaygiri and Lalitgiri, Ratnagiri – translated as the ‘Hills of Jewels’.
• The site stands on a hill between Birupa and Brahmani rivers and is Odisha’s most famous — and the most excavated – Buddhist site.
• It was a center for Mahayana and Tantrayana (also known as Vajrayana) Buddhism.
• Time frame– Experts date Ratnagiri to a period spanning the 5th to 13th centuries, with its peak construction activity occurring between the 7th and 10th centuries.
• Ratnagiri was an important center of Buddhism in ancient times.
  • Some studies suggest that the famous Chinese Buddhist monk and traveler, Hiuen Tsang, who visited Odisha in 638-639 AD, may have visited Ratnagiri.

Buddhism in Odisha and its connections with Southeast Asian nations

• Mauryan Emperor Ashoka is believed to have invaded Kalinga in 261 BC but, deeply moved by the bloodshed in the war, he eventually embraced Buddhism. Later, he helped spread Buddhism not only within his own empire but also to Sri Lanka, as well as Central and Southeast Asia.
• In Odisha, Buddhism is stated to have particularly flourished under the Bhaumakara dynasty, which ruled parts of the state in between the 8th and 10th Century.
• Odisha has had strong maritime and trade connections with Southeast Asia for a long time. Historians note that goods like pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, silk, camphor, gold, and jewelry were commonly traded between the ancient kingdom of Kalinga and Southeast Asia.
• The state also annually holds Baliyatra, literally ‘voyage to Bali’ – a seven-day festival to commemorate the 2,000-year-old maritime and cultural links between Kalinga and Bali and other South and Southeast Asian regions such as Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Burma (Myanmar) and Ceylon (Sri Lanka).