DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2371#0078
56 - EASTERN CAVES.
from these hills, as the spot on which to engrave one of the most
complete and perfect sets of his series of edicts,1 and he hardly
would have chosen so remote a corner of his dominions for this
purpose, had the place not possessed some previous sanctity in the
eyes of his co-religionists. Unfortunately we are not able to fix
with anything like certainty the site of Danta-puri, the city in which
the celebrated Tooth Relic was enshrined, and where it remained till
carried off to Ceylon in the beginning of the fourth century of our
era.2 It certainly was not far from this, and may have been in
the immediate vicinity of the caves, though the evidence, as it at
present stands, seems to favour the idea that it was at Puri where the
famous temple of Jagannath now stands, some 30 miles south of the
caves. The fact, however, that it is recorded by the Buddhists that
the Tooth Relic was brought to this neighbourhood immediately
after the cremation of his body, and the certainty of its being chosen
by Asoka B.C. 250 to record his edicts, is sufficient to show that early
in the history of that religion this neighbourhood was occupied by
Buddhists. There is however no record or tradition of Buddha him-
self ever having visited the locality, or of any event having occurred
there that gave rise to the erection of any Stiipa or other monument
in the neighbourhood, and even Hiuen Thsang, when passing through
the country in a.d. 640, does not mention any spot as sanctified by the
presence or labours of Buddha or of any of his immediate disciples.3
There are some 16 or 17 excavations of importance on the Udaya-
giri hill, besides numerous little rock-cut hermitages—cells in which
a single ascetic could dwell and do penance. All these belong to the
Buddhist religion and there is one Buddhist cave in the Khandagiri
hill—the Ananta. The others there, though large and important,
are much more modern and all belong to the Jaina form of faith.
There is also a modern Jaina temple built by the Marathas on the
top of that hill, and I cannot help believing that Kittoe was correct
when he says that there has been a large circular building on the
corresponding summit of the TIdayagiri rock;4 but I have not been
1 ./. A. S. B., vol. xii. p. 436, for Kittoe's plates and description of the locality.
2 J. R. A. S., vol. iii. new series, pp. 149 et seq.
3 Julien, vol. i. 184; iii. 88.
4 J. A. S. B., xii. p. 438. In a private letter from Mr. Phillips, the joint magistrate
of the district, he informs me " there are the remains of some building above the Eani
ka nour, i.e., on the top of the Udayagiri." It probably would require excavation to
ascertain its character.
from these hills, as the spot on which to engrave one of the most
complete and perfect sets of his series of edicts,1 and he hardly
would have chosen so remote a corner of his dominions for this
purpose, had the place not possessed some previous sanctity in the
eyes of his co-religionists. Unfortunately we are not able to fix
with anything like certainty the site of Danta-puri, the city in which
the celebrated Tooth Relic was enshrined, and where it remained till
carried off to Ceylon in the beginning of the fourth century of our
era.2 It certainly was not far from this, and may have been in
the immediate vicinity of the caves, though the evidence, as it at
present stands, seems to favour the idea that it was at Puri where the
famous temple of Jagannath now stands, some 30 miles south of the
caves. The fact, however, that it is recorded by the Buddhists that
the Tooth Relic was brought to this neighbourhood immediately
after the cremation of his body, and the certainty of its being chosen
by Asoka B.C. 250 to record his edicts, is sufficient to show that early
in the history of that religion this neighbourhood was occupied by
Buddhists. There is however no record or tradition of Buddha him-
self ever having visited the locality, or of any event having occurred
there that gave rise to the erection of any Stiipa or other monument
in the neighbourhood, and even Hiuen Thsang, when passing through
the country in a.d. 640, does not mention any spot as sanctified by the
presence or labours of Buddha or of any of his immediate disciples.3
There are some 16 or 17 excavations of importance on the Udaya-
giri hill, besides numerous little rock-cut hermitages—cells in which
a single ascetic could dwell and do penance. All these belong to the
Buddhist religion and there is one Buddhist cave in the Khandagiri
hill—the Ananta. The others there, though large and important,
are much more modern and all belong to the Jaina form of faith.
There is also a modern Jaina temple built by the Marathas on the
top of that hill, and I cannot help believing that Kittoe was correct
when he says that there has been a large circular building on the
corresponding summit of the TIdayagiri rock;4 but I have not been
1 ./. A. S. B., vol. xii. p. 436, for Kittoe's plates and description of the locality.
2 J. R. A. S., vol. iii. new series, pp. 149 et seq.
3 Julien, vol. i. 184; iii. 88.
4 J. A. S. B., xii. p. 438. In a private letter from Mr. Phillips, the joint magistrate
of the district, he informs me " there are the remains of some building above the Eani
ka nour, i.e., on the top of the Udayagiri." It probably would require excavation to
ascertain its character.