Lalitgiri

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Chaityagriha stupa complex in Lalitgiri

Lalitgiri ( Oriya ଲଳିତଗିରି , also called Lalitagiri , Laitagiri or Naltigiri ) is an archaeological site in India . The Buddhist complex with large stupas , monasteries ( viharas ) and 'esoteric' Buddha images is one of the oldest Buddhist sites in the Indian state of Odisha . One of the most important finds in this complex is a box with a relic ascribed to Buddha .

location

The Buddhist complex Lalitgiri ( Lage ) is located on the Landa Hill, a sandstone hill in the Assian Hills range, in the Tahasil Mahanga in the northeast of the Cuttack district about 40 kilometers east-northeast of the district capital Cuttack near the border with the neighboring Jajpur district .

Nearby, but already in the Jajpur district, there are other Buddhist monasteries, Udayagiri ( location , air line approx. 6 km NNE) and Ratnagiri ( location , air line approx. 11 km NE). The three sites are also collectively referred to as the "Diamond Triangle" (diamond triangle). The assumption made up until the 1990s that these three sites together formed the historic Pushpagiri University has been considered obsolete since the 1995-2006 excavations on Langudi Hill ( location , as the crow flies approx. 16 km NNW).

Excavation history

Ruins of the monastery 4
Entrance to monastery 1

The first finds from Lalitgiri were known in 1905. Ramaprasad Chanda of the Indian Museum in Calcutta described the site in 1927–1928 in the Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of India . In 1937 the facility was officially declared a protected monument by the central government. In 1977 the Utkal University from Bhubaneswar carried out smaller excavations in Lalitgiri. More extensive excavations made 1985-1991 the Bhubaneswar Circle of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

These excavations took place on the assumption that Lalitgiri was part of Pushpagiri University , an important Buddhist educational institution that the Chinese traveler Xuanzang (approx. 602–664) had described in his travelogues. However, the excavations did not provide any confirmation of an identification of Lalitgiri with Pushpagiri. It was not until the 1995-2006 excavations on Langudi Hill that a facility found there could be identified as Pushpagiri Vihara .

Time position

An essential aid for dating the complex are pot fragments with inscriptions that were found during the excavations. They date from different periods of time, beginning with the period after the Maurya Empire (322-185 BC) to the 8th and 9th centuries AD. These fragments indicate that Buddhism in Lalitgiri both after the Kind of Hinayana as well as after the kind of Mahayana was practiced. Thereafter, the site came under the influence of the Vajrayana current of Buddhism, which was promoted by the Bhaumakara dynasty, who ruled from the 8th to 10th centuries . Thus, Lalitgiri, one of the first Buddhist sites in Odisha, shows uninterrupted cultural continuity from the period after the Maurya Empire to the 13th century AD.

Buildings

Mahastupa
Chaityagriha
Buddha torso in monastery 4

At the top of the hill ( location ) the excavations carried out by the Archaeological Survey of India in Lalitgiri have uncovered the remains of a large stupa (mahastupa).

Further below brought the excavations remains of a Chaityagriha ( location ), a Buddhist venerators or prayer hall, to the fore. It is a 33 meter long and 11 meter wide single-nave hall with a 3.3 meter thick wall made of fired bricks. The west side is closed off by an apse, in front of which there are remains of a stupa.

In the vicinity of the Chaityagriha there are other stupas, including numerous votive stupas that were erected after a wish was fulfilled. Findings within the area, including the "Shell Inscriptions" (inscriptions with Brahmi characters carved into the shape of a snail ), which are carved into the threshold of the building, suggest that the area dates from the first centuries AD to the 6th century. was used until 7th century.

The remains of four monasteries were also found. The first and largest monastery ( location ) faces east with its entrance. It is a two-storey building and measures 36 × 36 meters on the outside. In the middle is an inner courtyard measuring approximately 13 × 13 meters. The monastery dates from the 10th to 11th centuries AD. On its back is a walled rainwater cistern.

The second monastery ( location ) is at the northern end of the hill. It is only partially exposed and is said to come from a time when Buddhism in Lalitgiri was already losing its importance.

The third monastery ( location ) is located north of the Chaityagriha and its entrance is oriented to the southeast. It measures 28 × 27 meters and has an inner courtyard of 8 × 8 meters. It is the oldest monastery in Lalitgiri and dates from the late Chaityagriha phase.

The fourth monastery ( location ) is located northeast of Chaityagriha and its entrance is oriented to the west. It is 30 × 30 meters in size and also has an inner courtyard. The sanctuary opposite the entrance is dominated by a torso, a seated Buddha figure without a head.

Finds

Sculpture of the fasting Buddha
Vajrapani from Lalitgiri in the Indian Museum , Calcutta

Three reliquary containers were found within the Mahastupa, two of which are made up of four nested boxes. The outer box is made of khondalite , the next of steatite , the third of silver and the innermost of gold . The individual caskets are themselves stupa-shaped, with a basic container and a domed lid. In one of the gold boxes was a small piece of bone wrapped in gold foil, and in the other a charred piece of bone. The third khondalite container was empty and contained no other caskets. Even if the caskets bear no inscription, some historians assume that they are relics of Buddha himself and one of his most important disciples because of the old age and the precious materials.

Most of the excavated sculptures are the figures of Buddha in various postures that can be assigned to the Mahayana . Standing Buddha figures with knee-length overhangs are reminiscent of the influences of the art schools of Gandhara and Mathura . Other figures include Bodhisattvas , Tara or Jambhala . Many of these figures have inscriptions.

One of the more important finds from Lalitgiri is a monastic terracotta seal from the 9th to 10th centuries AD with the inscription "Sri Chandraditya Vihara Samagra Arya Vikshu Sanghasa". Other notable finds include gold pendants, silver jewelry, stone tablets with images of Ganesha and Mahisasur Cardini , a seal matrix pendant, and a tiny figure of Avalokiteshvara .

The sculptures found were originally housed in a makeshift shed ( location ), some were temporarily exhibited. The relic cases were kept in a shelter of the Archaeological Survey of India in Bhubaneswar and first exhibited in 2013. In 2013 it was decided to build a permanent museum in Lalitgiri, construction work began in 2014. In addition to the sculptures and other artefacts , the relic containers are also to be permanently exhibited there. A special showcase made of bulletproof glass was built for them. After criticism of the plan to open the museum before the relics were transferred in November 2018, the relics were transferred to the museum on December 24, 2018 and the museum was inaugurated on the same day by India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi .

literature

  • Lalitgiri Buddhist Complex . In: Indian Art History Congress (Ed.): Proceedings of the Indian Art History Congress, 4th Session, Patna - 1996 . S. 74 ff . ( google.de ).
  • Kory Goldberg, Michelle Decary: Lalitgiri, Ratnagiri & Udaigiri . In: Along the Path: The Meditator's Companion to the Buddha's Land . Pariyatti Publishing, Onalaska, Washington 2012, ISBN 978-1-928706-56-4 , pp. 387 ff . ( Excerpt from GoogleBooks ).
  • Jeeban Kumar Patnaik: Excavations at Lalitagiri (1985-1991) (=  Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of India . No. 112 ). Janpath, New Delhi 2016.

Web links

Commons : Lalitgiri  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Excavated Buddhist site, Laitagiri. In: asi.nic.in. Archaeological Survey of India, accessed December 13, 2018 .
  2. ↑ ASI hope for hill heritage - Conservation set to start at Orissa site. In: The Telegraph. January 28, 2007, accessed December 13, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Aruna Deshpande: Buddhist India Rediscovered . Jaico Publishing House, Mumbai 2013, ISBN 978-81-8495-247-6 ( google.de [accessed December 9, 2018]).
  4. ↑ a b Lalitigiri. In: Odisha Tourism. Department of Tourism, Governement of Odisha, accessed December 14, 2018 .
  5. ^ Buddhist Relics. In: pib.nic.in. Press Information Bureau, Government Of India, September 4, 2012, accessed December 15, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Lalitgiri. In: Times of India Travel. Retrieved December 14, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Namita Panda: A rare and precious view Buddha relic on display after 27 years. In: The Telegraph - Online Edition. February 7, 2013, accessed December 15, 2018 .
  8. ^ A bullet-proof case to house precious Buddhist relics. In: The New Indian Express. October 12, 2018, accessed December 25, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Plan to inaugurate Lalitgiri museum sans relics flayed. In: The New Indian Express. November 11, 2018, accessed December 15, 2018 .
  10. ↑ Thousands throng Lalitgiri for glimpse of Buddha relics. In: The New Indian Express. December 25, 2018, accessed December 25, 2018 .