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It is ninety KM from state
capital Bhubaneswar, nesting on three hills,
are the ruins of what must have once been an
imposing Buddhist monastry complex called Puspagiri.
In fact, it is yet another triangle which constitutes
Lalitgiri, Ratnagiri and Udaigiri. Amidist the
sylvan surroundings of Mahanadi basin, the triangle
is supposed to have once constituted the most
important seat of Buddhist learnings next only
to Taxila and Nalanda. |
Inaccesible and therefore, not much traveled, the
area has tremendous archaeological significance. A
tip to Puspagiri may involve wading through muddy
terrain and a couple of boat trips across rivers like
Kelua and Genguti, tributaries of the river Mahanadi.
The Chinses traveler, Hiuen Tsang visited this area
in 639 AD and refered to it as Pusi-po-kili in his
travelogue which embraced all the above three Vihars
of Lalitgiri, Ratnagiri and Udaigiri.
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