Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c13.s2.9

c13.s2.9

Contemporary with the monasteries excavated in the Western Ghats, another group of rock-cut halls and cells was being produced on the eastern side of the country, near Cuttack in Orissa This resolves itself into a collection of chambers, not Buddhistic, but attributed to the opposing belief of the Jains, as in their treatment there are certain features implying a connexion with the latter creed. Nor are there any chaitya halls, for they consist in most instances of a formation of cellular retreats recalling in some respects the viharas of the western Hinayana type. The close grouping on two low hills, not far removed from the famous Brahmanical fanes of Bhubaneshwar, supplies additional proof, if such were required, that this area was of special sanctity, the whole country around having sacred and historical associations To Orissa, as its share in the precious relics of the Buddha, fell the left canine tooth, and the holy city of Dantapura, the "Town of the Tooth", where this priceless possession was at one time deposited, lay in the vicinity of one of the neighbouring towns, either of Bhubaneshwar or Puri, although all traces of it are now lost. As a token of the antiquity of these parts, near at hand is Dhauli hill, where is inscribed one of the rock edicts of Asoka, guarded by a fine sculpturesque representation of an elephant. The two tree-clad hills in which the rockcut chambers are situated, are, together, locally known as Khandragiri, but the northern elevation is called Udaigiri. Separated by a defile, between them wound the "Pilgrims Sacred Way", or *Via Sacra*, to Bhubaneshwar, where it is likely there stood, in early days, a stupa—the pilgrims' goal.