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Khandagiri & Udayagiri monuments were modeled by the great Jain king Kharavela, who ruled Orissa from 168 to 153 B.C., these sandstone caves were made for Jain monks. Udayagiri means Sunrise Hill and Khandagiri means Broken Hill, which is 40 meter high than the surroundings plan area. |
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The famous caves of Hathigumpha (elephant cave) in Udaygiri, RaniGumpha (Queen's cave) also in Udaygiri, with upper and lower stories, spacious courtyards and extremely delicately designed friezes bear witness to the sophistication the architectural styles had attained early Orissa. |
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It is located at 5.5 km from the heart of Bhubaneswar, which is well connected with other parts of the city. These 113 caves were built around 2nd century B.C. The Pali records engraved in the Hathi Gumpha, proves the 13 year megalithic record of king Kharavela. |
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Khandagiri caves can be reached by going up the steps next to the entrance to the Udayagiri caves. If you climb these steps, when the path divides, take the right path and you come to Caves 1 and 2. They are known as the Parrot Caves because of the birds carved over the doorways. Return on the path for |
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| 30m and then climb some steps to the Ananta Cave (3), which has carvings of elephants, women, and a bird carrying flowers. It has the best sculptures of the Khandagiri Caves . You can then climb the hill, passing the Jain temples, and at the top, there is an 18th century temple dedicated to Mahavir, the 24th tirthankara (Jain teacher). There is a good view of Bhubaneswar city including the Airport ,Lingaraj Temple & Dhauli from the
Khandagiri hill. |
Dhauli is famous for its Buddist monuments.It also happens to be the placewhere the bloodiest of battles was fought and won by the great king Ashoka.This was also the moment which change the mind of great king Ashoka from ambitious king of a prospering kingdom to a Buddha follower. He changed from chanda Ashoka to dharma Ashoka. The proof of this conversion can be seen at Dhauli , which is 8 km from Bhubaneswar . This can be found in rock edict marked by the image of an elephant sculpted from the overhanging rock.
In Orissa,two such rock edicts are still survived. The inscriptions at dhauli was written by Emperor Ashoka asking the public to keep brotherhood and live peacefully.
The Peace Pagoda (popularly known as Vishwa Shanti Stupa) built in 1972 Kalinga Nippon Buddha Sangha, is another popular tourist place that one can visit on the tour of Buddhist place in Orissa. In the tour of Buddhist monuments in orissa, medival Hindu temples in Dhuli snd small rock cut caves are worth seeing places.
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