Udayagiri remains a Neglected Buddhist site, says Ashok Panda

The 6th century old Buddhist site in Udayagiri in Jajpur district is being neglected by the authorities since long for which large numbers of tourists are not coming to this famous ancient monastery.

The Archeological Survey of India (ASI) dug only a portion of Udayagiri. But they are yet to excavate other sites in Udayagiri. Due to lack of space, many unearthed Buddha and other images are lying neglected in Udayagiri for which the state government will build a sculpture shed in Udayagiri to keep all the excavated images of Buddha and others, said Ashok Panda the minister of culture and tourism on Thursday.

The Minister visited Udayagiri on Thursday along with senior officials and local MLA Amar Satapathy. In the 6th century, many Buddhist Monks used  to live in  many caves and rooms in Udayagiri. But now all the caves are covered with trees. Three years back, the state government decided to spent around two crores to develop the Buddhist site in Udayagiri by building roads, museum, guest houses. But the authorities haven’t yet spent the money for the development of Udayagiri, said Maheswar Bal the president of Udayagiri Surakhya Mancha to the minister.

The state government constructed museum , guest houses and other developmental works in Lalitagiri, Ratnagiri and Langudi. But, the authorities neglected Udayagiri though Udayagiri is more important than Lalitagiri and Ratnagiri, added Maheswar Bal.

Many persons illegally encroached lands and hills near Udayagiri as a result the future of Udayagiri is now at stake. But the government is yet to evict all the encroachers, added Bal.Mr. Panda assured the members of Udayagiri Surakhya Samiti that the government will take necessary steps to develop the Buddhist site.