The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c6.52

v1.c6.52

Fa Hien, the Chinese traveller of the 4th century, seems not to have visited Orissa. After his peregrination in Behar and Bengal, he started for Ceylon from Tāmralipta on the mouth of the Rūpanārāyaṇa; but Hiouen Thsang, two centuries after him, closely following his route, arrived at Tan-mo-li-ti, the Tāmralipti of the Hindus and the Tamalites of classical writers, modern Tamluk,³⁷ at a time when that town contained a dozen Buddhist convents and ten thousand monks. It had several memorial *stūpas*, one of which was 200 feet high, and was said to have been built by Aśoka. The district in which it was situated bore the same name, and measured about 250 miles in circumference. After a short sojourn there, he proposed to go to Ceylon. "Wishing to start, he met an Indian monk of the south, who gave him the following advice: 'In going to the kingdom of the Lion (Siṃhala) it is not necessary to undergo a long sea voyage during which the winds are contrary, the currents impetuous, and the *Yo-tcha* (*yakṣas* "demons") expose one to a thousand dangers. It would be better for him to start from a south-east point of Southern India: by that way he may arrive by water in the space of three days. Even though you may be obliged to ascend mountains and traverse valleys, you will accomplish your trip in safety. At the same time you will have an opportunity of visting the sacred monuments of *Ou-tchā* (*Ouḍra*—Orissa) and other kingdoms’. ³⁸