Odisha HRD

Unknown History: My column in Telegraph, Monday, January 23rd, 2012

January 23rd, 2012

The column is at http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120123/jsp/odisha/story_15040583.jsp. Thank you Telegraph publishing this and Priya and Bibhuti for making it happen and encouraging me.

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Some indentations are missing in the column. So my original submission is given below. I appeal to the readers to write to the CM and Chief Secretary at cmo@ori.nic.in and csori@ori.nic.in respectively and urge them to at least take teh actions mentioned in the article below. In this regard, note that the way Nalanda International University happened is that the Bihar CM Nitish Kumar pushed it with the PM as well as stalwarts like Amartya Sen. The Odisha government (namely the CM and CS) need to take similar steps.

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While most people in Odisha have read in their history text books about Nalanda as an ancient center of higher learning and know about Bodhgaya as a Buddhist site where Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment , very few of us know about the Buddhist sites of Ratnagiri, Lalitgiri and Udayagiri in the Jajpur district of Odisha and even fewer have visited them; many confuse the Buddhist site of Udayagiri in Jajpur district with the Khandagiri-Udayagiri in Bhubaneswar.

This is somewhat unfortunate as top researchers in Archaeology and art history have compared Ratnagiri with Nalanda and Bodhgaya and such comparisons have been reported in books and articles written in India and abroad.

The three sites of Ratnagiri, Udayagiri and Lalitgiri are identified as the sites of the ancient Ratnagiri Mahavihara, Madhavpur Mahavihara and Chandraditya Vihara and the proceedings of the 1998 Indian Art History Congress makes a mention of this.

Debala Mitra, the Director General of Archaeological Survey of India during 1975-1983, who explored and excavated several Buddhist sites in India, and wrote many books on various archaeological sites in India, wrote a two volume book on Ratnagiri and another book titled“Buddhist monuments of India” . In the latter book she compares Ratnagiri with Nalanda and says the following.

… Recent excavations of the top of the hillock brought to light imposing remains of one of the most important Buddhist establishments, reclaimed as Ratnagiri-mahavihara (and not Pushpagiri-viahara as presumed by some) on the basis of a number of sealings bearing the legend S’ri-Ratnagiri-mahavihariy-aryabikshu-sanghasya. With its nucleus dating atleast from about the fifth century A.D., the establishment witnessed a phenomenal growth in religion, art and architecture till the twelfth century A.D. It played a significant role in disseminating Buddhist culture and religion forming itself, like Nalanda, an important religious and philosophical academy, to which flocked the entrants and scholars to take lessons from the intellectual stalwarts of Buddhism.

She backs up her claims with multitude of evidence including references to Tibetan literature such as:

Taranatha in his History of Buddhism in India (completed in A.D. 1608) says that a vihara, called Ratnagiri, was built on the crest of a mountain in the kingdom of Odivisa (Orissa) in the reign of Buddhapaksha (identified with the Gupta Emperor Narasinghagupta Baladitya of the Gupta dynasty by N. Dutt), an in this vihara were kept three sets of Mahayana and Hinayana sastras, etc., and there were eight great groups of dharma (religious schools?) and five hundred monks. According to the Pag Sam Jon Zang (completed in A.D. 1747), Acharya Bitoba went through magic to Sambhala where he obtained the Kalachakra-tantra, brought it to Ratnagiri and explained the doctrine to Abodhutipa, Bodhisri, and Naropa. This and other Tibetan references indicate that Ratnagiri was a renowned center, noted for the spiritual inspiration and lively pursuit of the Kalachakra-tantra in the latter part of the tenth century A.D.

Addressing some concerns by researchers she says:

The veracity of these late Tibetan works, which is often questioned, is amply borne out by the excavated remains which are spectacular even in their ruins. The excavation laid bare the remains of an imposing stupa (Main Stupa), rebuilt at least once, two magnificent qudrangular monasteries (Monasteries 1 and 2), also rebuilt at least once, a single-winger monastery, eight temples, a large number of stupas, sculptures and architectural pieces, objects of daily use and hundreds of other evidences of what life was like in these sumptuous monasteries. Indeed, excavations have revealed that here was an establishment that can be compared with that of Nalanda. In the overwhelming number of portable monolithic stupas Ratnagiri can compete even with Bodh-Gaya. … The number of these antiquities is an adequate index of the profound popularity and sanctity of this center in the Buddhist world.

All of the above are elaborated in her book on Ratnagiri where she says the following regarding Monastery 1 being the finest such structure unearthed in India.

Notwithstanding its normal monastic plan, it is a singular structural monument not only for its impressive size and symmetrical planning but for the rich but balanced surface-treatment of the front porch and the façade of the shrine. Not a single monastery of Nalanda, which has yielded so far the largest number of spectacular structural monasteries , can compete with this one in respect of embellishment. … Indeed, the monastery is the finest structural one so far unearthed in India.

Although Debala Mitra’s books have the most detailed references and arguments regarding the important of Ratnagiri vis-à-vis Nalanda and Bodhgaya, a search (of Ratnagiri and Nalanda) in http://books.google.com shows that her views are agreed upon and propagated in books and articles published around the globe.

I corresponded and personally met Prof. Thomas Donaldson of Cleveland who has written many books on art history of Odisha and India. In one of his emails to me he wrote:

As you know Ratnagiri was a rival to Nalanda as a site of Buddhist learning and some later Tibetan texts even ascribe the origin of Mahayana and Tantrayana to Ratnagiri. Collectively the three closely situated sites certainly compare artistically to the site of Nalanda.

From the above it is quite evident that Ratnagiri in Odisha, by itself is a site that is comparable to Nalanda and Bodh Gaya in many aspects and together with the nearby Lalitgiri and Udayagiri they form a triangle of an unparalleled Buddhist complex in India. Unfortunately, this is not much known to people in Odisha, let alone outside Odisha. Although the Odisha government has been trying to create a tourist circuit around these sites, it is yet to bear fruit.

In that regard we suggest the following:

(i) The Odisha government create a major tourist campaign using some of the above mentioned quotes in huge hoardings in places such as Bhuaneswar airport, station, and major tourist sites and offices in Odisha and India.

(ii) The Odisha government pursue the imemdiate establishment of a centrally funded Indian Institute of Arcaheology and Art History located near these sites to produce adequate number of trained manpower to expedite the excavations in Udayagiri and recently discovered nearby sites such as the Langudi hills site.

In addition it should help in the recent effort to establish a Ratnagiri-Puspagiri International University as a revival of the Ratnagiri and Puspagiri Mahaviharas along the lines of the recently revived Nalanda International University; Puspagiri being the Mahavihara mentioned in Hiuen Tsang’s Si-yu-ki and thought by many to represent a subset of Ratnagiri, Lalitgiri and Udayagiri; but is yet to substantiated by archaeological evidence.

Last December, I had a chance to discuss the above compilations of quotes with Utkal University professors of the Department of Ancient Indian History, Art History & Archaeology and also with the Culture and Tourism Secretary. Although I was not able to discuss this with the CM or CS, I hope the above points will be forwarded to them and they will quickly take some necessary actions. Additional details on this is available at http://www.facebook.com/puspagiri .

Entry Filed under: Appeal to readers