Buddhakhol, about 70 km from here, is a hill containing some Buddhist and Hindu antiques including some mutilated Buddhist images.

Although its archaeological remains pointed to its being a famous centre of Buddhism in medieval Orissa, neither historians, nor the archaeological department had given much attention to the place near Buguda town in Ganjam district, says historian, Dr Sishir Kumar Panda.

Panda, reader in history at Berhampur university, who has attempted to conduct a survey of Buddhist antiquities and archaeological remains of Buddhakhol, is among several historians and ordinary citizens, concerned about the state of affairs at Buddhakhol.

Their concern is not without basis as any visitor to the site in future may well have to stare at only a hill without any antiquities anddevoid of any historical value.

Though the place at present is an important centre of Shiva worship, Dr Panda said it was a major Buddhist centre before the dawn of the Christian era.

At the end of the stone steps, there existed a concrete pedestal where a number of mutilated Buddhist, Shaivite and tantric images are placed by the Hindu priests. Among the images, two of Buddha are in bhumisparsa mudra and dhyana mudra, he pointed out.

Though the images are in mutilated condition, their general features engraved on stone could be described, he said.

Representation of such Buddha images were also widely found in Orissa at Udayagiri, Lalitagiri and Ratnagiri hills - the three Buddhist spots in the undivided Cuttack district, he pointed out.

Without protection, some of them also lay in ruins while some antiquities were allegedly smuggled out for sale in the international market.

Besides the Buddha images, Dr Panda also pointed out the existence of six natural caves located close to eachother. These caves, locally known as gumpha are known as mula gumpha, sidha gumpha, dahana gumpha, ashoka gumpha and usha gumpha.

Besides these, a number of caves are also located in the hill ranges.

Dr Panda said names of some of these caves such as sidha gumpha and ashoka gumpha suggested that the caves were inhabited by the Buddhist monks. They, perhaps, selected this place due to its natural surrounding, waterfall, availability of natural caves and its isolated location.

These caves and the Buddhist images bear silent witness to the memory of the Buddhist monks who practised asceticism in the medieval period, he said.

At present these caves are inaccessible to the general public and inhabited by wildlife. No one goes there, local villagers said.