Diamond Triangle of Odisha - Buddhist Monasteries at Lalitgiri, Ratnagiri and Udayagiri

Bhubaneswar is known as a city of temples and the town of Puri for its majestic shrine of Lord Jagannath.  Many may not have heard that Odisha has been a center of Buddhism and it dates back to the 1st century.
Buddhist monastery complex of the Vajrayan sect called Pashupagiri housed in Lalitgiri, Ratnagiri and Udayagiri. These three Buddhist destinations form the Diamond Triangle of Odisha.

The remains of the rich art, monasteries now nestles within the hills and greens of Lalitgiri, Ratnagiri and Udayagiri. Less than 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the state capital Bhubaneswar, these places take you back in time and show the magnanimity and influence of Buddhism in the Kingdom of Kalinga and under emperor Ashoka.


Lalitagiri : The excavations at Lalitagiri have led to the discovery of the earliest Buddhist complex in the area which dates back to the 1st century AD. Buddhist attractions here include ruins of a large brick monastery, a number of votive stupas and a renovated stone stupa at the top of a small rugged sandstone hill. A museum that exhibits numerous Mahayana sculptures including colossal Buddha figures, huge Boddhisattva statues, statues of Tara, Jambhala and others. Some of the sculptures have brief inscriptions on them.

Ratnagiri : Excavations at Ratnagiri in the Birupa river valley in Jajpur district, have so far been the richest in terms of cultural treasures. There are two large monasteries, a big stupa and numerous votive stupas that indicate towards the powerful impact that Buddhism had in the times of the Gupta king Narasimha Gupta Baladitya (first half of the sixth century A.D.). Buddhism progressed in this region leaps and bounds till the 12th century AD.

Udayagiri : Excavation have unearthed remains of Buddhist brick monastery that perhaps flourished between the period of 7th and 12th century AD. Recently, it has also come to light that the ancient name of the monastery was Madhavpura Mahavira.

A good day trip on a winter morning to help take your mind and soul back in time. From the hustle and bustle of daily city life, you can be in the midst of nature and visualize the rich culture and heritage that India has to offer.

LEADER - Simplified

In my quest to keep things simple, I wanted to understand what or who is a LEADER? What are some of the key traits/attributes that possibly makes one a better than the other. We all have our own ways of defining this incredibly overused word - LEADER.

L - Listening - We all love to express ourselves - verbally or through our actions. Listening ("Actively") is the biggest trait of a leader. "Listening to Respond" is completely different than being engaged and actively listening. When you listen ("Actively"), you understand the point of view and appreciate any situation better. A must have for all successful leaders.

E - Empathy - An empathetic person creates a positive vibe and environment around any workplace. One needs to be empathetic and not sympathetic. A leader needs have "that" personal connect and understanding while being real.

A - Attitude - It is all about ATTITUDE ("Loads of Positive Ones"). Situations will be tough and challenging, however positive attitude of a person distinguishing him/her from the rest. Attitude drives the way one handles a situation making you a "LEAD BY EXAMPLE" kind of a leader.

D - Decision Making - Leaving issues or problems under the rug/carpet turns to be painful and can catch fire. This happens primarily because of poor decision making or being in-decisive. The team looks up to a leader and is expecting to make a decision based on all weighted out facts and risks. Taking a decision and standing with it is key.

E - Enthusiasm - This is infectious. We all have met or seen individuals who become the life to any party. A person who is enthusiastic and positive, invigorates the workplace and acts as a positive catalyst. Stressful workplace kills productivity and one's own health at the least.

R - Reach - Always making the time for subordinates or colleagues who reach out, is a hallmark of a great leader. This only happens when a person is humble and empathetic to others. If no one can reach you, how can you convey any message? how can you possibly know the ground reality? how can anyone know who you really are?

There are no golden rules to be a great successful leader, but we all can inculcate some good traits in us to become a better person tomorrow.

Would like to get your thoughts and see what you all feel :) - My 2 Cents

LEARNING - Simplified

We learn from the day we are born and this process continues until our brain keeps ticking. The amount of learning does varies from one to another, however certain traits can help increase this. Based on my experience, I feel the following attributes/traits help us to evolve into our better selves.


L - Love yourself - Loving yourself is the first step in building self-confidence and a kick start to learn and improve ourselves. Without this, we manage to shut all our doors to a better or improved tomorrow.

E - Eager -  Being eager or curious is the next key trait that keeps us constantly seeking for something new and uncovers new found knowledge. It is key for one to be curious in order to accept and seek things we don't know.

A - Attitude - Attitude is everything. This drives us to visualize and respond to a given situation. This is applicable to learning something new and keep us going. Here I would say "POSITIVE" attitude is important.

R - Read  - Reading is not just going through books, journal or articles, but this could be reading your surroundings. Reading our surroundings (people and situations) also teaches us important life lessons.

N - Nurture - Learning grows when you nurture your mind and soul. This can be easily achieved by sharing your experience and knowledge selflessly with others. Many fear that is may diminish their competitive edge, but this truly helps you to solidify your learning and go beyond.

I - Inspire - Being an inspiration to another person is the greatest possible feeling of satisfaction. When you inspire someone, you actually internally realize that your learning, knowledge, personality and contribution is in the positive direction and you have made a difference in someone's life.

N - Notice - When one is vigilant to changes around them and start noticing what is working or not, it often propels the mind to become more curious and learn. This becomes cyclic with time and you start rolling.

G - Gratitude - Be thankful for everything you have. Gratitude is wonderful antidote that keeps you level headed and stimulates the mind to learn better. This helps creating a better you with time.

Finally, LEARNING is a variable and is dependent on all these traits / attributes. To maximize the value, one needs to improve on the attributes.

Practice what you Preach - Change starts with me

We find it very convenient to point our finger at  someone else, be it the government, local civic body, administrators, society, neighbors and anyone under the sun for any problem that surfaces.
Off late many of us would have been disgusted with the world around us, be it a barbaric act of violence, gender equality, child abuse and many more. We question everyone and every possible process. Do we ever ask ourselves as to what I do in my day to day life? Have I done something different?

I wanted to share my views and observations on some of these areas and would like to see what you all think?

1.  Gender Equality and Respect for Women -

We start reacting when we hear a news about gender bias, atrocities against women or a girl. Have I every looked into my own home, my workplace, my neighborhood, introspecting to see how I treat a lady, a girl, a co-worker, a subordinate, my house help or even the vegetable vendor down the street?

Do I tell my son to have respect for his sister(s) and imbibe in him the sense of equality and that I am not partial to anyone? Do I love and respect a women/girl the same way I regard the divine power as in Goddess Durga or Lakshmi? Do I treat and talk to any lady/girl with respect and dignity? If not, then what am I teaching my next generation or even creating an example around me. Can I blame others? How can I be the change agent?

Has the "Educated City Dweller" stopped going to gender determination clinic and prevented a female foeticide? Can I practically have government and police looking over everyone? After all they are the same people made of flesh and blood.

2. Provoked Violence and Respecting Humans -

How often do I acknowledge a human as a human and not from how he/she looks , what is his/her social stature is, what religion/caste does he/she belong to? Don't I create a prejudice before even I try to know who this person actually is?
There are off course free radicals (fanatics) everywhere and there are people who want to instigate violence for their own benefit or seeking political goals. But as a matured individual (assuming I am impartial), treat everyone fairly, with respect and dignity.

Dignity of Labor is so critical in the modern era. Every work is important and every person doing it with respect and sincerity deserves to be treated well. The day I start to treat my sub-ordinates, security guard, vendor, driver etc. with respect and dignity, the place around me will be much nicer.

3. Child Abuse -

How often do you see young kids being employed / pushed to work at a tender age. To add on to that they are very often verbally and physically abused. Many face harassment and exploitation. What does this earn? A little money for the parents?
Have I ever thought that if I cannot take care of a child, should I really bring it to this world? Do I make sure I am not employing a child for my benefit and exploiting the poor soul?

Every change needs a driver and some of these pressing issues needs you to first drive the change and provide others a path to follow.

It is easy to blame other and everyone around you. But this only works, when I have made sure I have done the right thing and ensure that I never break the norm. Finally we forget - "When we point our finger at someone/anyone, there are three which point towards us" 

What is education? Something to think about

Everyday we hear or come across words like "Educated", "Education", "Educate" etc. How often do we really dwell upon and try to understand what does this really mean?

I am not talking about what Merriam-Webster defines, which is the one below

"

Definition of education

1. 1a :  the action or process of educating or of being educated; also :  a stage of such a processb :  the knowledge and development resulting from an educational processa person of little education
2. 2:  the field of study that deals mainly with methods of teaching and learning in schools
3. "
4. Towards the early part of the last century, focus was on sending young kids to schools, colleges and universities based on available resources with parents. Some even stretched out to go the extra mile.
5. Everyone wanted to be "Educated" and earn degrees. This certainly was a great move. People innovated new technologies, paved the road for a more connect world and we continuously strive to becoming a 100% educated and literate society.

However, I want to point out to a few fundamental growing challenges that today's world faces. I would like to question, if this is what we have learnt in the process of being "Educated"?

1. Gender ratio gap seems to be increasing in urban societies across the globe, mainly in South Asia. Thanks to technology which now can tell you whether it is a boy or a girl and suggest next steps thereafter before the creation is actually born. Is it still the belief that boys are superior? Have we not been able to change the way society thinks?

2. We have been able to successfully divide ourselves based on religious beliefs, how we look, where we come from (country, state, region), language we speak etc. BTW this is universal, be it the developed or developing country. Did we learn this better now that we are "Educated"? I am sure this helped the radical and leftist mindsets to create the much needed wide gorge. 

3. Empathy, respect for each other, kindness, love and affection, philanthropy now have new home called "The Dictionary" or visit a lecture session. Have we put in the effort in teaching the new generation and kids to imbibe these human values and traits? Our ancestors possible had more of these values without possibly stepping into a college.

4. Trust and honesty are now aliens and reside in planet X. It seems uncool to have these sitting next to you. I am sure this is not taught in biology or chemistry. Hence why are these friends being alienated?


We can complain that everyone/society is wrong and why me, but can we all do our bit to think through some of these challenges. Can we take steps and see if we can make a difference? Can we make a new start and set an example?

I am sure many of us echo with this, but we don't believe in doing the right thing. It starts at home and with I, ME and MYSELF......