Excavations in Pushpagiri include the works of Harish Chandra Prusty, who discovered his Buddhist sites and definitely became the pride of Odisha.
It was 1990, a college lecturer Harish Chandra Prusty discovered a Buddhist site on the Langudi Hill in Jajpur district. This place is known as Pushpagiri. In 1993, Harish Chandra Prusty and Pradeep Mohanty described the site in an article published in the Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute. In 1996, the Orissa Institute of Maritime and South East Asia Studies and the Archaeology department of the Government of Odisha started exploring the site of Puphagiri. Between 1996 and 2006, the Institute carried out excavations of an area stretching over 143 acres.
Inscriptions found from Pushpagiri
A fragmented Brahmi inscription discovered at the site names the site as Pushpagiri, identified by the excavators as Pushpagiri. In 2000, an excavation conducted by the Institute, under the supervision of archaeologist Debraj Pradhan, resulted in the discovery of a large stupa as well as several other archaeological artefacts. The artefacts included pillars, a fragmentary Brahmi inscription, terracotta seals and Northern Black Polished Ware. Debraj Pradhan believed the stupa to have been erected by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka (304-232 BCE). Although Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang suggests that Odra had 10 stupas erected by Emperor Ashoka, this is the only one to have been discovered so far. According to B. N. Mukherjee of Calcutta University, who deciphered the Brahmi inscription, the stupa may have been erected by "a lay Buddhist worshipper called Ashoka".
Rock Cut Stupas of Pushpagiri
There are 34 rock-cut stupas discovered in 2007. These stupas are of various sizes had been discovered on the northern part of the hill. A number of Buddhist rock-cut sculptures were discovered on the southern spur of the hill, including sculptures of Dhyani Buddhas in various postures. According to D. K. Dimri, the superintendent of the ASI`s Orissa circle, the archaeological finds at the site cover a period between 1st century CE and 9th century CE, and suggest the existence of a major Buddhist monastic establishment. In 2007, the Archaeological Survey of India took over the excavated site of Pushpagiri.
