Udayagiri or the rising hill, which offers a grand view of the countryside with its sprawling monastic complex, is the most spectacular of the Buddhist archaeological sites in Orissa. Travel to Udayagiri, the entire region of Udaigiri Khandagiri is virtually a ridge that vertically bisects the horseshoe-shaped hill. It overlooks the plains of the Mahanadi delta and the confluence of the rivers Birupa and Kimiria. While its southern half is studded with the remains of several stupas of assorted sizes and a monastic complex, the northern half has a cluster comprising of a central stupa and several votive stupas.


¤ Vajrayana or Tantric Buddhism

The Pag-Sam-Zan-Zang, a Tibetan text compiled in 1747 A.D. and the Sadharmapundarika, another Buddhist scripture, both have interesting references to Vajrayana Buddhism. According to the text, the Buddha (the founder of Buddhism, for more, see Religion) had assured Sariputta, one of his chief disciples, that after countless generations, Sariputta would be reborn as Padmasambhava (the person who popularised Vajrayana Buddhism in Tibet), and he would attain enlightenment at Budhhakshetra Uddiyana, the place from where the Vajrayanasect is believed to have originated.

Vajrayana or Tantric Buddhism is a form of Buddhism that evolved as a challenge to the authority of the Buddha, and rejected the original form of the religion. The various kinds of worldly pleasures prohibited by the Buddha were introduced in the Vajrayana sect in the form of the five makaras or mediums, notably wine, women, fish, meat and parched grain. The Vajrayanists perceived the Buddha only as a mortal figure whose religious philosophy did not take into account the totality of a man’s desires, and was therefore inadequate at certain levels.


¤ The Concept of the Five Consorts

The followers of the Vajrayana sect, that had already come into being by the beginning of the 7th century A.D., formulated the concept of the five Dhyani Buddhas, (the meditative Buddhas) accompanied by their five consorts who were supposed to represent the five elements of nature. These Buddhas, namely Vairocana, Akshobhaya, Ratnasambhava, Amitava and Amoghasiddhi, were immortal, and along with their respective female partners, had created a number of Bodhisattvas (successive phases leading to the Buddha state). Each Bodhisattva was destined to realise eight mortals Buddhas who were required to preach the Vajrayana doctrine and help people attain nirvana,or emancipation by embracing a woman. The union of a man and a woman was designated as yoga considered a powerful means to attain salvation. The followers of the Vajrayana sect, after attaining salvation were allowed to enjoy Prajnaparamita, or the perfect truth.  According to the Vajrayana texts, Prajnaparamita lives in every woman on earth.


¤ Sadhanamala--The Tantric Text

Sadhanamala, a Tantric text mentions four pithas or sacred spots – Kamakhya, Sirihatta, Purnagiri and Uddiyana – which were the original seats of Vajrayana. While Kamakhya and Sirihatta are in modern Assam, speculations abound about Purnagiri corresponding to the modern Pune region in Maharashtra.

Uddiyana had been identified with various places earlier.Indrabhuti was its ruler, and Padmasambhava was his second son. Padmasambhava went to Tibet to help Santaraksita of Zahor (now located in modern Bangladesh) build a great stupa (a Buddhist reliquary mound) at Samye. The text Sadhanamala mentions that Padmasambhava had destroyed some of his father’s favourite texts, for which he was punished and sent to Tibet. It is further mentioned that he married one of Santaraksita’s sister. According to the Pag-Sam-Zan-Zang, Tantric Buddhism had originated at Uddiyana.


¤ Excavations at Udayagiri

Recent excavations at Udayagiri archaeological sites in coastal Orissa have led to the discovery of a series of 8^th century Nagari-Brahmi (a mix of Nagari or Devanagari, the script in which Hindi is written, and Brahmi, the early Indian script, believed to have been created by Brahma, Creator in Hindu Holy Trinity of Creator-Preserver-Destroyer, the Nagari-Brahmi was prevalent between 8^th and 10^th centuries A.D.) inscriptions engraved on the back slab of a colossal image of a four-armed Jatamukuta Lokesvara (a Dhyani Buddha).The findings have led archaeologists to believe that Udayagiri was perhaps the Budhhakshetra Uddiyana, where Padmasambhava had attained enlightenment.


¤ Stupa

One of the most fascinating Buddhist archaeological remains of Orissa is the imposing square central brick stupa of Udayagiri, which has a wide molded horizontal band of several brick courses with insets and offsets towards its base. On each of the four sides, pillared inset niches are placed above the molding, with a stone sculpture of a seated Dhyani Buddha in each niche. These include Akshobhaya on the east, Vairocana towards the north, Amitabha turned to the west, and Ratnasambhava facing the south. The roof that is not sculpted is believed to have the symbolic representation of the last Dhyani Buddha, Amoghasiddhi.  The top of all these sculptures has inscriptions in Sanskrit, and Brahmi characters of the 10^th century A.D.

The Dhyani Buddhas were typical to Vajrayana Buddhism and enjoyed the same status as the Buddha, though they were not required to pass through the stages of the Bodhisattvas. They were five in number and were always engaged in peaceful meditation with the aim to realise Bodhisattvas. They represent the five mudras or postures the Buddha had adopted on various occasions. The previous artistic representations of the Buddha in several early monasteries inspired the iconographic representation of the Dhyani Buddhas. However, some Vajrayana authorities believe the Dhyani Buddhas originated from the theory of the five eternal elements of the universe, notably earth, water, sky, fire and wind. They further had the power to fuse all these elements into one through action. In their artistic representations, the five Dhyani Buddhas look alike, have a common seating posture on a double-rowed lotus in full bloom, and often hold a bowl. Only vehicles and symbols help distinguish one from the other.  

The Udayagiri stupa is the only one of its kind discovered so far in India in which the Dhyani Buddhas are shown as described in the Vajrayana texts.


¤ Monastery

The next major travel attraction is the excavated monastery, situated at the foot of the hill beside the central stupa. The monastery, square in plan has a central courtyard surrounded by cells in which monks slept. The compound wall on the east has a gate that is the main entrance to the courtyard. Located just opposite the main entrance is a shrine. The doorjambs of this shrine or the garbhagriha (sanctum sanctorum) are beautifully carved with scrolls, floral designs, Yakshas, Kinnaras (divine semi-gods) and the Buddha on the central part of the lintel. On both sides of the doorjamb are nine sculptures of the Buddha and Buddhist divinities. A colossal image of the Buddha, carved out of a few blocks of stone, is the presiding deity of the monastery. Going by the style in which these sculptures have been executed, archaeologists are of the opinion that they hail from the 7^th-8^th century A.D.

Another large isolated square monastery, located to the west over a higher elevation, is currently being excavated. The monastery, similar in plan and size has preserved a colossal image of the Buddha in its shrine.

Besides a number of other travel attractions like brick pavements, smaller and votive stupas, ritual pits, a kitchen complex and a unique large rock-cut tank, and stone sculptures belonging to different deities of the Vajrayana pantheon have been found. These certainly prove that Udayagiri was a flourishing Vajrayana centre between the 8^th -10^th centuries A.D.