Pushpagiri Mahavihara Temple

Pushpagiri ranks as one of the primary institutions of higher learning in ancient India. The famous Chinese traveller Xuanzang(Hiuen Tsang) visited Pushpagiri in 639 CE, mentioning it as Pushpagiri Vihara, along with Nalanda, Vikramashila and Takshashila. Pushpagiri was also recorded in medieval Tibetan texts. However, unlike Takshila and Nalanda, the ruins of Pushpagiri were not discovered until 1995, when a lecturer from a local college first stumbled upon the site. The task of excavating Pushpagiri’s ruins, stretching over 143 acres (0.58 km2) of land, was undertaken by the Odisha Institute of Maritime and South East Asian Studies between 1996 and 2006. It is now being carried out by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The Nagarjunakonda inscriptions also describe this learning center.

As of 2007, the ruins of this vihara have not been fully excavated. Consequently, much of its history remains unknown. Of the three campuses, Lalitgiri, in the district of Cuttack, is the oldest. Iconographic analysis indicates that Lalitgiri had already been established during the Shunga period of the 2nd century BCE, making it one of the oldest Buddhist establishments.

Pusphagiri (Also Puspagiri Mahavihara), one of the earliest buddhist mahavihara spread across Cuttack and Jajpur district, Odisha (ancient Kalinga) in 3rd century AD, flourished until the 11th century in India. Today, its ruins lie atop the Langudi hills, low hills about 90 km from the Mahanadi delta, in the Jajpur and Cuttack districtin Odisha. The actual mahavihara campus, spread across three hilltops, contained several stupas, monasteries, temples, and sculptures in the architectural style of the Guptaperiod. The Kelua River, a tributary of the Brahmani river of Odisha, which flows to the north east of Langudi hills, provided a picturesque background for the mahavihara. The entire mahavihara is distributed across three campuses on top of the three adjoining hills, Lalitgiri, Ratnagiri, and Udayagiri.

The famous Chinese traveller Xuanzang (Huien Tsang) visited Pushpagiri in 639 CE, mentioning it as Pushpagiri Mahavihara, along with Nalanda, Vikramshila and Tkshila. Pushpagiri also was recorded in medieval Tibetan texts. However, unlike Takshila and Nalanda, the ruins of Pushpagiri were not discovered until 1995, when a lecturer from a local college first stumbled upon the site. The task of excavating Pushpagiri’s ruins, stretching over 143 acres (0.58 km2) of land, was undertaken by the Odisha Institute of Maritime and South East Asian Studies between 1996 and 2006. It is now being carried out by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The Nagarjunakonda inscriptions also describe this learning center.
The recent discoveries of a few images of the emperor Ashoka are a major find. Based on this find, it has been suggested that the Pushpagiri Mahavihara may have been commissioned originally by Ashoka himself.