In the eighth article and film of the 12-part series on the story of Buddhism, art historian and producer-director BENOY K BEHL travels to the Buddhist sites of the state of Odisha
The film is about the Buddhists sites of Odisha including Dhauli, Lalitgiri, Ratnagiri, Udaigiri, Langudi Hill, Kaima and the villages of Naupatna and Maniabandha, where active Buddhist worship continues since ancient times. (The film covers sites from 3rd century BCE till the present).
The fertile land of Odisha, on the eastern coast of India, has been a great centre of culture, since ancient times. Here is a continuing Buddhist tradition of over 2,000 years. There are edicts of Emperor Ashoka of the 3rd century BC: at Dhauli, near Bhubaneswar and at Jaugada.
The writings of the Tibetan historian Taranatha and considerable archaeological remains show that Orissa was a great centre of Buddhism in Pala times (8th to 12th centuries CE).
