Dhauli is also known as Dhauligiri, a famous hill. It resides eight kilometers to the south of Bhubaneshwar city, on the banks of the river Daya. Dhauli, the very place on which the famous ‘Kalinga war’ between the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka and the Independent feudal kingdom of Kalinga took place, makes it one of the historically significant places to visit in bhubaneshwar. Situated seven kilometers away from the city of Bhubaneshwar, one finds Dhauli on the way to Puri. Tourists include the tour of the famous Dhaulagiri hill as a part of many of the Bhubaneswar Tour Packages. Dhauligiri also organizes light and sound shows, the timings of which are – 6:30 to 6:50 PM for the first show and 7:10 to 7:30 PM for the second show.

Dhauli Shanti Stupa History

We majorly know Dhauli for the Monument, the Dhauli Shanti Stupa, or the Peace Pagoda. This Monument witnessed the Kalinga war, which led the Famous warrior, King Ashoka of the Mauryan Empire, to renounce violence and adopt Buddhism and its values of tranquillity. The story of Ashoka’s realization is narrated through various history books, from which we learn that in spite of actually winning the battle of Kalinga, Emperor Ashoka (who actually led the Mauryan empire to a great height) was overwhelmed and devastated at the sight of mass bloodshed and destruction that war often casually entails as a necessary price.

Thus, this Monument is an existing tribute to the great warrior king Ashoka’s moment of realization about the vagaries of the world followed by his renunciation ages ago. Thus, a large number of devotees belonging to Buddhism often visited this place. There are a large number of stupas and pillars laid by Ashoka, which have various inscriptions of importance. In those inscriptions exists lines and edicts which tell us about Ashoka’s views and intentions about promoting peace throughout the world.
The structure of the stupa is dome in shape. One can find a beautiful figurine at the entrance of the stupa of a rock-cut elephant which is one of the earliest Buddhist architectural pieces in Odisha.

Dhauli Ashoka Pillar

While visiting the Dhauli hills, there is another monument of importance that stands away from notice in a quite unfrequented spot, called the Dhauli Ashoka Pillar. This pillar is quite similar to the famous Ashokan lion Pillar situated in the city of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, which is the proud emblem of India. However, this pillar seems to be a recent addition to the place. The rest of the Dhauli hills also gives a breath-taking view of the city from its height.