An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v2.c44.320

v2.c44.320

**Ratnagiri¹** (20°38′; 86°20′), Dt Cuttack, a small hill known even before its systematic excavation for its rich yield of Buddhist sculptures of the late historical period, along with that of two other hills in the neighbourhood, Lalitagiri (Naltigiri) and Udayagiri (Chanda, 1930). Ratnagiri figures in some late Tibetan texts, among them in the history of Buddhism in India by Tāranātha who says that the Ratnagiri-vihāra was built in the reign of Buddhapokāsa (identified uncertainly with the Gupta king Narasimhagupta Bālāditya) and that here were preserved scriptures of Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna sects and lived 500 monks. Excavation here by ASI under D. Mitra (*IAR 1957-8*, p. 39, *1958-9*, p. 33; *1959-60*, p. 38; *1960-1*, p. 28) has yielded the remains of an imposing *stūpa*, the Main Stūpa, three monasteries, a number of temples and small *stūpas*. The overwhelming number of these minor *stūpas* is an eloquent proof of its immense popularity and sanctity as a centre of Buddhism.