Radhanagar — The capital of Kalinga??
It was this news which caught my attention and I was surprised to read the name of the place. It was Jajpur, Radhanagar and Dharmashala.
Jajpur always attracts me as the place was once a cradle of Buddhism and you can find various Buddhist remains in the district. Among them, Radhanagar was an important place which also holds an important place in the history. I read a lot about Radhanagar and visited the place in 2016. I tried to summarize my findings here in this blog.
An Introduction:
Radhanagar is situated on the right bank of river Kelua (Kimiria), a tributary of Brahmani, about 90 kms to the north of Bhubaneswar and 30 kms from the present shore line. The nearest town is Jaraka. A series of excavation took place in the area by Odishan Institute of Maritime and South East Asian Studies (OIMSEAS) in 2010–11 and the results were fascinating. It proves that the archaeological findings of that place can not be ignored.
From the excavations it was concluded that the civilization flourished here from 4th-3rd century BC to 4th-5th AD. The site is over an area of 9, 02,500 square meters, enclosed by a mud fortification. There are 3 projections in the northern side i.e, in the middle of the eastern side which is locally called as ‘Singhadwar’. The north-west corner projection is locally called as ‘Hatidiha’ and the middle projection of the northern fortification is called ‘Uttaradwara’.
Archaeological findings:
Lots of Potteries ware like northern black polished ware, rouletted ware, black and red ware, black slipped ware, dull red ware, gray ware, red slipped ware, knobbed ware were found during the excavation. Coins, terracotta figurines, beads, terracotta objects, inscriptions were also found. Below are some of the photos which I got from various sources with description.
A royal pendant found at Radhanagar has the name Tisa inscribed on it. The pendant, made of semi-precious stone and rectangular in shape, has `Sadabhu Tisa’ written on one side and the figures of the sun and the moon, a Swastika and the Buddhist symbol on the other sides. The pendant is considered to be a unique symbol of a royal personage who believed in all faiths.
Terracotta potsherds found among the ruins in Radhanagar.
Earrings found among the ruins in Radhanagar.
“The unearthing of several inscriptions and other corroborative evidence clearly proves that Radhanagar was the capital city of Tosali,’’ Debraj Pradhan said. A senior ASI expert has deciphered the inscriptions as `Tosali Nagara’, `Tosali Nagar’ and `Tosali’, and they are datable to the third and second century B.C.
The inscriptions tell the tale of a lost era. One of them says: `Kalinga rajna go’. Unfortunately, the remaining portion of the potsherd, which might have revealed the name of the Kalinga king, could not be retrieved. Experts now believe that the name of the Kalinga king during the Kalinga war might have started with `Go’ or `Gu’.
An inscripton also mentions about Vijaya. Now is this the same Prince Vijaya who is the first recorded king of SriLanka and established Kingdom of Tambapanni. As we have a village known as Singhpur in Jajpur iteself which is a very ancient historical site situated on the bank of river Kharashrota in Binjhapur Tehsil of Jajpur district of Odisha. It was capital of Kalinga Kingdom during the period of King Sinha Bahu, a contemporary of Lord Buddha and king Bimbisara of Rajgriha. Lots of research has to be done in this regard.
The recent findings may also lead to the tracing of the exact venue of the Kalinga war. Yuddha Meruda in Korei block near Dharmasala seems to be the place where the historic battle between the forces of Asoka and the king of Kalinga was fought. Yuddha Meruda, a vast expanse of land on the bank of the Brahmani, seems to fit the descriptions of the battle. Until now, it was widely believed that the battle was fought on the banks of the river Daya on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. Since Yuddha Meruda is not very far from Radhanagar, it really opens a new doors in the history of Kalinga. It is also significant that the 10 Asokan stupas discovered within a radius of 10 km which matches with the Chinese traveller Hieun Tsang’s accounts (A.D. 629–645). According to his statement, Buddha came to Kalinga and visited various places and in all those places stupas were made by king Ashoka. These things are really surprising.
The excavation at Kayama hill, on the right bank of the Kelua river, has resulted in a series of discoveries. The rock-cut elephant at Kayama is a unique piece of Kalingan art and was probably erected by Tissa, the brother of Asoka who stayed back in Kalinga after the war. The name `Tissa’ is also inscribed on a rock-cut bench situated towards the north of the Kayama elephant. Tissa, who became a Buddhist, desired to stay in Kalinga with his preceptor Dharmarakhita. Asoka constructed a Vihara, named Bhojakagiri, for his brother, whose location is still unknown. Below is the photo of rock cut elephant with a rock cut bench.
Conclusion:
The below snapshot I got from the book “JOURNEY ACROSS BUDDHIST INDIA” by Aruna Deshpande mentions that the word ‘Toshali’ does not exist at or near Dhauli in any other archaeological find. Hence few people believe that Radhanagar is the capital of Ashoka’s empire and not Dhauli.
But suddenly came to my mind are the below lines which were said by Buddha, when he met with Bimbisar.
“Ujum janapado raja hemavantassa passato”
“Dhana viriyana sampanno tosalesu niketino”
Translated it reads “there is O’ king, a country on the slop of the Hemagiri, rich in wealth and heroes, who dwell among the Tosalas i.e. straight from here the rich the prosperous Tosali which lies in the foot of Hemavanta, is my residence”. These holy words of Buddha are quoted in Pabbajja Sutta in Suttanipata published by Palli Publication Board. Thus according to Buddha himself he belonged to Toshala.
If Toshali is Radhanagar then archaeologist must find the exact location of Hemagiri and Hemavanta.
Thanks….
ref: http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl2220/stories/20051007000106500.htm
