Bhubaneswar

By the river of DAYA (Compassion).

Bhubaneswar @70

– 1 –

  The world’s first peace declaration was written on stone and engraved on the north face of the hill of DHAULI here. They are famously known as the Rock Edicts of Ashoka.

  The 33 inscriptions of emperor Ashoka on DHAULI (272 to 231 BCE) are the first ever Buddhist engraving deciphered.

  The Compassion that had flown that day from the ‘Sãmana Upagupta‘ and soaked the barren heart of a merciless Ashoka, finally went on to soak half of the modern world in Buddhism.

 The importance of Ashoka’s conversion to Buddhism on the banks of the DAYA in the 3rd century BC can only be paralleled, in the West, by Constantine’s conversion to Christianity in the 4th century AD and the Rock edict is comparable to the Milan edict and Nicean Creed in shaping of Christianity.

  The most enigmatic remnant of this ancient Buddha sculpture is
this unique monolithic ‘face-on elephant‘ carved out of the hill.( Pic)

This is one of the oldest sculptures in India. It’s preservation out in the open, exposed to all conditions of weather for more than 2200 years seems almost miraculous.

– 2 –

  Six miles away from and facing straight towards the Rock Edicts of Ashoka at Dhauli, stands the majestic Hathigumpha Inscriptions on the south face of a cave in the UdayGiri ( the Kumari hills) and dates back to 150 BCE. ( 2000 years old.)

  Carved by Jain monks during the reign of King Kharavela, It probably belongs to the earliest Jain rock-cut temples in the world.
These 17 lines of Brahmi scripts begining with the most auspicious Ṇamōkāra Mantra are the oldest discovered and deciphered Jain relic.

  These two are probably the earliest deciphered epigraphic inscriptions of significant length in India. They are at least 22 hundred years old.

– 3 –

  In between these two celestial Pulpits and by the river of DAYA  stand 5000 temples built between 7th century to 13th century.

  Most of them are dedicated to Lord Shiva. The biggest among them is dedicated to the Lord of the three worlds, the Tribhubaneswar which is a good 180 feet tall and at least 1100 years old. It is better known as the Lingaraja ( The King ).

Today that parcel of land is one of the smartest cities of world and capital of the province Odisha.

It’s known as Bhubaneswar.