Toshali Sands :: Pushpagiri

Ninety km away from Bhubaneswar, nestling on three hills, are the ruins of what must have once been an imposing Buddhist monastery complex called Puspagiri. In fact, it is yet another triangle which constitutes Lalitagiri, Ratnagiri and Udaigiri. Amidst the sylvan surroundings of Mahanadi basin this triangle is supposed to have constituted the most important seat of Buddhist learning next only to Taxila and Nalanda. Inaccessible, and therefore not much traveled, the area has tremendous archaeological significance.

A trip to Pushpagiri may involve wading through muddy terrain and a couple of boat trips across rivers like Kelua and Genguti -- tributaries of the river Mahanadi. The Chinese traveler, Hiuen Tsang visited this area in 639 AD and referred to it as Pusi-po-kili in his travelogue which embraced all the above three Vihars of Lalitgiri, Ratnagiri and Udaigiri.