Udayagiri - Footsteps of History

Udayagiri, the ‘Sunrise Hill,’ is the largest but the least excavated of the three sites and comprises two distinct segments of ruins, Udayagiri I and II. Its defining features include a bell-shaped brick stupa symbolic of Vajrayana Buddhism, two brick monasteries, a stone stepwell with inscriptions on it, and numerous rock-cut Buddhist sculptures that are better preserved than the ones at Ratnagiri or Lalitgiri. A large compound holds aloft the monastery that in its days of glory held 18 cells that served as abodes for the resident monks. Farther up the hill, overlooking the Birupa river, is a gallery of rock-cut sculptures, and the northern spur is ridden with ruins of brick stupas.

Udayagiri I contains the main stupa that boasts four seated stone idols of the Buddha, enshrined and facing the four cardinal directions. It houses 18 cells and a sanctum embellished with an intricately sculpted ornamental façade. Udayagiri II is an extensive monastic complex comprising 13 cells and a three-metre image of the Buddha as Lokeswara with an eighth- century inscription on it. The architectural marvel of the vaulted arches of the monastery and the circumambulatory path around the sanctum are unique features of Udayagiri, not seen in any other monastic settlements in Odisha. 

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