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This Buddhist heritage site in Odisha dates back to 1st century A.D. Lalitgiri is an important part of Diamond Triangle of Odisha which includes three major ancient Buddhist sites, Ratnagiri and Udayagiri being the other two. In 1937, the central government gave this place the status of a protected monument. The place constitutes stupas, monasteries and Buddha images as its main attractions. It is said that Lalitgiri was a prime place of Tantric Buddhism. Some excavations were carried out at Lalitgiri in 1977 by Utkal University. However, the major excavation was carried out by Bhubaneswar Circle of the Archaeological Survey of India between 1985 and 1991 to find the Pushpagiri. Pushpagiri was mentioned in the writings of the Chinese traveller Xuanzang.

It was this excavation which officially declared Lalitgiri an ancient Buddhist site in Odisha. Moreover, this excavation also helped to discover various important ruins. From this excavation, a large stupa was recovered with two caskets with some relics. As per the archaeological experts, these are Buddha’s relics. Besides, remnants of four monasteries were also discovered in this excavation process. Facing East, the first was the largest monastery, sprawls in the area of 390 sq feet, that dates back to 10th-11th century. The second and third ones face North and South-East. Whereas, the fourth monastery include many large Buddha heads in the sanctum sanctorum. Moreover, the idols of Buddha in different postures along with a few prestigious relics were also discovered. Another talk of this enthralling place is a museum where sculptures of Buddhas, stone statues, images of various deities and relic caskets are put on a display.

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